West Ham draw at Palace to move two points clear of Spurs as Wolves are relegated

0:07Welcome to the Sky Sports Premier League podcast. Monday night football took us to South London to see Crystal Palace play West Ham. This is how we saw things at full time.

0:26And a stalemate that suits West Ham United just fine. On their tricky away trip to South London, it was a competitive contest. Mavropanos going close in the first half. Palace probably the better side in the second as West Ham decided to settle for the point you feel. Pressure and Sarr with a goal disallowed as well for a handball from Mateta. But ultimately West Ham keeping that gap from Tottenham below them. And that's what's important at this stage of the season. No big win to pull away but a point that is oh so important. And for Crystal Palace, well, they have bigger fish to fry. The final score at Selhurst Park, Crystal Palace 0, West Ham United 0.

1:21Well, it is an away point, another step towards safety for West Ham United, but I feel pretty sure that there'll be a lot of West Ham fans watching this who will feel like it's two points dropped in a contest in which there wasn't really much attacking attempt from either side. Dean, how do you see it? I think it feels like a tiny opportunity miss for West Ham, just I think in the way that Crystal Palace played, the way West Ham played in the first half, had enough opportunities in the penalty area, I think, to get that goal. But I suppose if you think of Crystal Palace away as a fixture, it's not easy.

1:57So right now a point still has to be a positive. Jamie, do you agree? Yes, I think Dean's right. West Ham supporters right now will be slightly disappointed, but I think it's one of those results that with every day that passes, it'll feel like a better point the closer you get to your next game. I think you've got to try and take the positives. You're playing against Crystal Palace, who right now are in good form. You're talking about a team we've brought on, Mateta and Saar, that just shows that they're the tasty side. And the thing that bodes well for West Ham is the two centre-backs are absolutely outstanding, especially in that centre-half, and they're going to need that if they're going to stay up.

2:34And they've got an away game out the way. Tottenham have played a home game and they're still in the same position.

2:43West Ham United are perhaps a point closer to safety. Goalless draw at Selhurst Park tonight. The first between these two since 1971. And it's back-to-back clean sheets for Nuno's West Ham United. The first time that club have achieved that since February 2025. Not much in it. Nine shots apiece. 1-4 on target, and that is the fewest shots on target that West Ham have faced this season. The expected goals tally, very similar. West Ham with more touches in the opposition box. They weren't able to make more of it than they did on the night. Palace edging possession. We know that West Ham have, in recent weeks, dropped to the team with the lowest possession in the Premier League.

3:30But a point, as I say, might just feel like they're a step closer to safety. Let's get the verdict from the West Ham dressing room on that because we can hear from Fernandes and Jared Bowen now with Nathalie Jager. Guys, it was a good performance. One point today. Does it feel, can we call it a good point or is there a little bit of the frustration of the missed opportunity to open up the gap more? Probably a bit of both coming here. They're really good sides, really good at home. Obviously on a high from getting into a European semifinals. And obviously, we knew coming here was going to be difficult and we were going to have to defend really well.

4:07And, you know, to be fair, we did have some chances that on another day could go in. So, of course, we wanted to come here and win the game, especially in the position that we're in. But, you know, a point at the end of the day, I don't think is the worst thing in the world either. As Gerard mentioned, you guys had really good chances, especially in the first half. We saw some good opportunities. Where did you feel the team as a whole fell short in not getting all three points today? Because you had opportunity. Yeah, I think first half was better than the second. I think we started the game very well with very chance.

4:40I think Anderson did a very good game for them. It's one point, we continue, we wait for the next game. Every game matters, so we need to be ready for every game. How was it to come into this game knowing about all the results around you, being the last ones to play? We just focus on our things, you know, we can control. It doesn't matter the other games, we need to do our job to lift the position. Next week we have a very good game to show our quality like we did in the last weeks. And we are ready for this, we are ready for the battle and for this club as well. When we see the energy the team is bringing to the performances, is work rate the biggest non-negotiable when you're fighting against the possibility of relegation?

5:29Yeah, of course. Quality is not going to get you out of the position all the way. It's a team, a team spirit, a togetherness. And I thought we'd done that tonight with a clean sheet again. We had one against Wolves. We have one here tonight. Obviously, we wanted to win the game tonight. We had opportunities to do that, but it wasn't to be. So, listen, we take a point in the situation that we're in. And like Mateo said, we've got a big game Saturday where we want to win that game as well. as the captain. Is it more important to keep things in perspective? You only depend on yourselves to not get relegated.

6:02Yeah, listen, we play for West Ham United and we're trying to keep West Ham United in the Premier League. That's our mindset. That's how we are and that's how we should be. And that's how we'll continue to be moving forward. We can't rely on results. We can't look at everything going on. We've got to focus on ourselves as a team, as a club, and keep fighting to stay in the Premier League. Yeah, and the performances are there. How do you see the levels of confidence? Yeah, I think we're showing a lot of mentality, you know. We fight until the end. We try to be ready for every challenge. We know every minute we can score because we have Chas, Chris, these players can change the game.

6:39So we need to be aware of this. We need to defend together like a team. And when we attack, we need to score. It's easy. Well, Mateus, you are player of the match. Congratulations. Thank you. Thank you, guys. Very talented boy, just 21 years old, just made his first senior appearance for Portugal in the recent internationals. And a young man with a big future, whatever happens you feel, to West Ham United this season. A lot of players really in this current moment, not quite sure what the future looks like. And you might include the manager in that as well, because despite their recent form, it's only two points, the buffer between themselves and Spurs and relegation, with an inferior goal difference as well, Dean.

7:26Would that be a concern? Yes, yeah, because you would class it as a point, effectively. So, again, I think on reflection, it does feel like a slight opportunity miss. I just think mentally to have won tonight after Tottenham conceded that late goal could have been so huge in terms of a dent for Tottenham and that gap that they need because of the goal difference. But there was no lack of fight and desire from the team. And I think that is important too. Confirmation that Wolves have been relegated after eight consecutive seasons in the Premier League. But Jamie, when you see Mateus Fernandes in a game which was short on quality, what were your impressions?

8:12Of him as an individual? Yes, he looked a class apart when you looked at West Ham tonight. The two centre-backs were fantastic. But him in terms of getting on the ball, showing that bit of class on the ball, you could see what it was about. But West Ham had their opportunity, I think, for the 15, 20 minutes before half-time. That's when they needed to score. I'm also thinking when you look at the second half performance whether at this stage of the season you want to go 10 days without a game maybe that's something that feels like a long time since they played as well so I think all in all it's not a bad point yes of course you always want to win but when you're near the bottom of the table you're not going to win every week you're not good enough to win every week so Crystal Palace away as I said before tonight will be slight disappointment for West Ham fans I'm sure the dressing room but each day that goes past they'll realise as I said more than a decent team Crystal Palace are So it's a decent point.

9:01And Everton to come next. Yes, indeed. And they're not conceding goals as well. And that gives you a chance, doesn't it, when you're able to keep clean sheets and it's back to back clean sheets for the Hammers. This is the last nine results, indeed, since Axel Dezazi slipped into that back four and he was signed and he went straight into the team. and five clean sheets in that time, the most since he made his debut in the context of just one clean sheet in the first 24 for West Ham this season. How much of that is down to De Zazi? A huge amount because I think he's given Mavropanos a massive amount of confidence.

9:40I think he had a point to prove as well after some doubters, certainly in his Chelsea career. I know he did well at Aston Villa, but sometimes, I mean, Carragher will know more than me just in terms of Mavropanos was a bit of a mess at the start of the season he was and sometimes when you get that player that comes in that maybe has attributes that that you don't have pace to get in behind it means Mavropanos can suddenly be more aggressive knowing he's got his centre-back partner that can that can cover in that in that way. Does that also come down to simplifying the message something we spoke about earlier Jamie with those two keep the ball away from the goalkeeper, defend, head it, kick it.

10:19And maybe possession is not such an important thing for West Ham United. Well, listen, you could see that in the second half. I think later on in the game, Avroparos gets one with his right foot. He just puts it, you know, out of play. There was one with his eyes on his left. Looks a little bit awkward on that left side. But again, even though it's Premier League football, when you're talking about teams near the bottom of the table, you can't have everything in any type of player, really. The ones who've got everything, the ones who play for the top teams, going for the biggest trophies. So right now, you just want that.

10:44You want clean sheets. Who's going to keep it out? And you think of that second half, how many times the ball come into the box? Crystal Palace at home, attacking the end that they like to attack. And the amount of time to have Rapanos and Ziazzi got the head on the ball was absolutely fantastic. It was a joy to watch. It could be such important qualities in these final tense few weeks. For Crystal Palace, perhaps we shouldn't be surprised. A nil-nil. It's their sixth of the season, the most any team has had in the Premier League for the last three seasons. and here is one of the architects of that, Dean Henderson, who made a vital save in the first half.

11:15He's with Natalie Jedra. Dean, West Ham imposed some challenges, so how does it feel to get a point tonight? Yeah, we were obviously disappointed. I think the lads gave it everything they could. Obviously, a few tired legs out there, but we pushed on towards the end to try and get the winner and we were unfortunately, we just couldn't manage to do that today. But we take the clean sheet, we move on and then get ready for some important games coming. Yeah, and one great save from you especially. I wanted to ask you if you could talk us through that Mavropano's header because it was an outstanding save.

11:51Yeah, to be fair, he leaped over the defender and he got some power behind it and I didn't really see it after that. I just managed to get my hand up and keep it out. But yeah, that's my job. So I was happy to make a save like that tonight. More instinctive then? Yeah, of course. Yeah, from that distance for sure. 12th clean sheet of the season it's an outstanding number especially for a defensive line who went through one important change so how do you see the level of consistency that you guys can produce defensively? Yeah, I think it's an unbelievable return for our league position to have that return on clean sheet is fantastic and the defensive unit is so good and anyone that comes in and steps in has been excellent so we've just got to keep that going that's the foundations we've built and hopefully add some goals at the other end.

12:36And how do you make sure you keep the levels of competitiveness high in the Premier League when you have such a big goal also in the Conference League? I'll be honest, we wanted to win today. We wanted to close the gap above. Ultimately, we tried. We tried our best, obviously. We played midweek, late, get back. It can be tough at times, the three-game weeks. It's disappointing. We feel like it's a bit of a missed opportunity, really. we really wanted to push on in the Premier League and we still can do that I believe we've still got a game in hand so hopefully we can win the game in hand and push on Thank you Dean You have a game in hand Dean it's against Manchester City it might be the last week of the season away from home as well they did have a late night on Thursday by all accounts so they were catching up a little bit getting back and maybe had a day off training on Friday but a good clean sheet nonetheless for Dean Henderson of the Crystal Palace and they needed him didn't they because West Ham had their moments Yeah I mean especially in the first half look he's becoming such an accomplished goalkeeper a match winner you would say at times Dean Henderson but as a unit it's what their success has been based on is that back five to two midfielders in front they're a very very well organised team that are difficult to break down and West Ham despite having that four man front line weren't able to to breach that defence and I think that's always credit to Crystal Palace's organisation feels Jamie like they take a real pride in keeping the ball out of their net Crystal Palace yeah they do listen that's that's what that system is about at times you know Dean's rightly mentioned that almost like a back five and that's what it is a lot of the time he looks to hit on the counter attack but this great ball almost like the best piece of play really from West Ham and a great save probably the move of the match really and it's only Dean Henderson that have stopped he likes the cross doesn't he Geoff oh he doesn't it doesn't matter if there's anyone in there or not he's putting it in at least he knows the West Ham players but that was the moment when you felt like had to get the goal in but what's interesting listening to his interview they're disappointed as well they feel like it's an opportunity we're focusing on West Ham because they've probably got more at stake in terms of staying up but again for West Ham it's not a bad point you know Crystal Palace saw West Ham as a team we should be beating them at home So to go there, get a clean sheet, get your point, I don't think it's too bad.

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15:44This is the Sky Sports Premier League podcast. Let's get more analysis of the game and return to the student. West Ham were seven points from safety in the middle of January. and that point tonight is Edgden two points clear of the bottom three. Nuno Spito-Santo now with Natalie Giedra. Nuno, you wanted to keep the good levels of performance. So how did you see tonight in this sense? I think we performed well. Of course, we always expect for the best. I think we were organized, we were compact to defend very well. Tough match. Paulus is always very hard here at Zelda Spark. In our offensive process, the combinations didn't quite go.

16:29The final pass, the final touch, even though we had a couple of good chances. But you knew, and the game was very balanced. Both teams were very, very intense on the game. We all know that Palace has a very established way of playing. We know the shape and the patterns. What is it about their execution that makes it so hard to always face them? It's a tough shape to play against and they've been doing good Oliver for a long time now and bring them a lot of success just last season and this season and all the achievements that they made. It's very hard because they are good players and the gaps, you cannot find the gaps and they have a very, very threatening counter-attack so you always have to keep the balance.

17:17and the wings with Mitchell and Munoz all gave me the wheat, so there's a lot of details. But I think we were really good in terms of our organization. We were solid. We were solid. The performance was there. When you see the point and you look at the table, does it feel like a good point? Or does it have a little bit of frustration with the missed opportunity? No, we have to realize how hard it is the match. And it's not doing counts, not measuring the points. It's focused on our task, knowing that we have to improve. And Saturday we go again. It's going to be a fight till the end. When you see the levels of work rate that you have on the team, does it give you confidence that you will keep pushing and you will achieve what you want?

18:04That's for sure. We are committed. We know that we have a mission in our hands. We are a big club. And the players are being committed, working very hard, trying to achieve the best levels of performance. For example, today's defensive, like I said, I think we were spot on. Offensively, we could get a couple of chances, a couple of shots, good saves from Dino. So, on that point, there's no arguing about that commitment all the way. Do you feel like not being inside the relegation zone, being outside, gives you a little bit more freedom to play or it takes a little bit of the weight when you guys are playing?

18:43Natalie, the situation doesn't change. We know that we have to do better. We know that we have to play and perform. What makes us realize it's going to be a fight till the end. So let's not think about anything else that's improvement, commitment and play. And also keeping in perspective that you only depend on yourselves. Yeah, in this moment. But just look at the table of the league. It's very tight all over the place. It's been a season that all the teams are very hard to compete against. And what do you expect this point to do to the team in these final games? We have a week to work. We have a week to work and focus on the next one.

19:25This is over. Let's analyse. Let's forget about what happened here, the things that we didn't do so best, because for sure it's going to happen on Saturday. Thank you, Nathalie. Still smiling and staying calm, as we said about Nuno before the game. Is the air just a little easier to breathe in their position right now? You can't forget they've been in that bottom three for a big chunk of the season. Yeah, the sharper his beard is, I think the happier he seems to be. I think, look, he's basing the side on commitment, as he said, organisation, being solid, being hard to beat, knowing he's now got players that can hurt the opposition on the counter-attack.

20:07Tonight was always going to be difficult because they were playing a team that wants to play the same way that they do. So he'll be, I think secretly, he'll be really pleased with the performance again, building the sort of togetherness with that performance leading into the end of the season. Yeah, and he'll be delighted with another clean sheet as well. Let's be clear about that. Do you think it was quite smart, Jamie, for him? I mean, with 10, 15 minutes to go and it felt like the game was in the balance, that he almost said to his team, let's just make sure we get a point here. Let's not go chasing and doing anything silly.

20:42It felt like one of those games, and sometimes supporters might be sat at home, you're West Ham supporter, and you're thinking, oh, go for it. But sometimes your team aren't playing well enough, and you're actually, what's the strength of our team tonight? So when you listen to his interview there, he said you just couldn't quite get the sort of connections going forward, you know, the interplay between the front four, you know, you did the analysis before the game. And I think sometimes as a manager, if they were playing well, you think, no, we've got to go for this, we've got to take the chance because we fancy ourselves to go and get the goal.

21:11Once they weren't having those connections, the back four were playing well or two centre-backs, you just got to go, you know what? Hopefully we can nick it, make sure we don't concede a goal. And sometimes you just got to make that judgment as a manager. I think that was probably the case the longer the game went on. Also, I think he's responded to Crystal Palace bringing on Mateta, Saar, Kamada, strengthening their team, really, with those changes. And I think he's gone, I'm not sure we're ready to sort of take that on and wanted that point. Yeah, two points clear at the bottom three now. Mateus Fernandes got the vote from Alan Smith as the player of the match.

21:48What about the finalysis voters? Who did they opt for? Well, actually, he was also West Ham's highest-rated player of the evening, but not the player of the match because that vote went to JD Canvo, 81.9, his rating this evening. That was maybe they voted before his shot, Did you like that shot, Jamie? Oh, I'm not a fan of centre-back having shots for 30 yards. I think if I was a manager, that would be a club find. Interestingly, the reaction from Oliver Glasner wasn't great either. But here he is now with Nathalie Gedra. Oliver, some good chances, some great defending tonight as well. How do you feel about the point?

22:30A bit of mixed feelings, like always after a draw. But let's talk more about the positive sides. Another clean sheet. What I really liked to see is, for me, it looked like at the end of the game we were closer to win it, but we played four days ago and we really increased the pressure. But yeah, we had one, once we scored, but was disallowed, I think was okay, because JP touched the ball with his hand and on the other side. We had many set plays in the last period of the game, but we were not really good enough on the other side. West Ham really defended the box very well. And so overall, I think the point is OK.

23:11When I see all the circumstances we played four days ago and also in the situation where they are in, so we match their motivation today, I think. And so it's all good. You mentioned the clean sheet. It's the 12th clean sheet of the season. It's an outstanding number. How difficult was it to defend them when they have so many players making runs into the box? I think the biggest threat came from set plays today. I think we gifted them too many, especially in the first half. And they're very dangerous. They're great takers and many tall players. We know Sucek, we know Mavropanos, we know Disazi.

23:52Their strikers are tall and Bowen really delivers the balls very well and Fernandes the same. So, yeah, I think this was their biggest threat. this is where from a second phase this is where the biggest chance came from I think in second half we didn't give them a chance on the other side we were not really accurate clinically enough in the final third but again when I see the situation where we're in I think the performance was absolutely okay the commitment was great and we tried until the final whistle and that's why I'm pleased with the point. I wanted to ask you about Brennan Johnson, because it is a long wait for him for a goal.

24:37How much do you feel the lack of confidence is playing into his lack of goals? I think it was a good performance. He was a big threat today. He had a great finish in the first half, and he missed it in the second half the same. So I think it was a very good performance. and it's just, for me, it's not just the goals, the attackers score. So he was a big threat. He did very well out of possession. I think it was his best game, that we can get pressure on the ball and disturb them in their build-up. And so, yeah, I think it was a good step into the right direction and it was really good to see because he will get confidence from these performances, from getting chances.

25:27In the last games, maybe he didn't have the chances today. So the first step, getting chances, and the second is to convert them. And when I see how good he's converting, how good his finish is, I'm pretty sure he will score a few goals for us this season. We see the levels of energy that your team has in both competitions. When you think about how would you compare the risks of prioritizing a competition and not prioritizing, approaching both competitions in the same way? As long as we have so many players available and all the players are in good shape, I have no concerns at all. And I think we also manage the days quite well.

26:08For me, it's more important to stay in a decent rhythm than always, because you don't train a lot, even when you rest some players, because you have a small group of players and so that's why I have no concerns at all. Again, now players get two days off and we will meet on Thursday preparing for the Liverpool game. Really looking forward to this game. Playing at Anfield Road is always a fantastic away game and then we have five days' time to prepare for the Schachter Donetsk for the semifinals. Now it's not a rhythm of three days, just two days in between. Now we have four days between, then we have another four days.

26:46So right now we don't need to take care of it. But of course, maybe after Schachter, when we play Thursday, Sunday, Thursday, Sunday, Wednesday, then maybe we have to rotate a little bit more on the other side. We did it and all good. Thank you, Oliver. Thank you. Thank you. This long season continues for Crystal Palace. Now, Dean Ashen was something of an exponent with his head. Not so yet. Brennan Johnson is something he's trying to develop into his game. hasn't scored a Premier League goal with his head yet. What would be your advice to him here? I think it's about understanding the angle usually, where the ball's coming from, where the goal is, and in your body position.

27:27Now he's tried to head that as if the ball's come towards him face on, and it hasn't. It's come from behind him. So the technique has to be a glance rather than a full head. So it's understanding the angle that the cross has come in, how that's got a glance off your head rather than trying to powerfully head it. I think he's got that all wrong. But he looked like a player that maybe doesn't really understand the way to head that ball as it comes in. He's just tried to put his head on it and there wasn't much craft behind it. There is a craft to glancing that downwards and into the corners. Do you think that craft of heading the ball as a strike is going off the game?