Crystal Palace 5-2 West Ham United: Michael Olise and Eberechi Eze star in brilliant Palace win

Crystal Palace scored four goals in the opening 31 minutes as they beat sorry West Ham at Selhurst Park.

Eberechi Eze then curled a superb bicycle kick from close range and Emerson Palmieri turned his own net under pressure from Daniel Munoz for Palace’s third of the afternoon.

Olise became a passer, placing the ball in front of goal for Jean-Philippe Mateta to head home.

Michail Antonio got behind his man and slotted past home keeper Dean Henderson for a Hammers consolation late in the first half.

But Oliver Glasner’s side continued to dominate after the break and Mateta scored again for his ninth league goal of the campaign in an excellent performance from the Eagles.

West Ham pulled another back, making it 5-2, when Tyrick Mitchell fired back towards his own goal without looking and Henderson’s scuffed clearance went into the net.

“The first half was as bad as I’ve seen us play,” Hammers boss David Moyes said. “(It was) unacceptable, it was difficult to explain.

“I’m so disappointed for the fans who came here today and, truthfully, I’m embarrassed to sit here and speak for the team and the way they played today.

“I have to say that few teams have played like that in my career.”

Palace dominated proceedings from start to finish and could have scored even more against a West Ham side who were playing in Europe on Thursday and looked defeated after conceding the opening goal.

Eze’s acrobatic goal came after Mateta’s effort on Fabianski was saved by his right foot, with the England international tapping in the rebound.

Eze skewed a couple of efforts wide of the post after scoring his goal and fired another shot over the bar from just inside the area as the Hammers struggled to contain the former QPR man.

Apart from Antonio’s goal, West Ham created few notable chances and were largely outclassed in another away performance to forget.

Brilliant performance from Palace as Eze and Olise shine

This is only the second time Eze and Olise have started together this season and when they do, the improvement in Crystal Palace’s performances is evident.

Both players scored and provided an assist as they danced at will through the West Ham defense.

Olise, at 22 years and 131 days old, is the youngest player to have been directly involved in 10 or more goals in each of the last two Premier League campaigns (13 in 2022-23 and 11 in 2023-24).

Eze pushed the hapless Kurt Zouma to set up Mateta for his second goal and will be disappointed he only scored once.

Mateta has also been in great form and now has nine goals this season, more than in his first three campaigns combined in the competition (eight).

Olise and Eze were taken off in the 67th and 81st minutes respectively, receiving rapturous applause from the home support for their superb performances in Palace’s biggest win of the season.

Lethargic Hammers suffer more from the away blues

West Ham have not fared well after European matches this season and suffered a similar fate against Palace, having been knocked out of the Europa League by Bayer Leverkusen on Thursday.

After 38 minutes, the home fans were chanting “you’re sacked tomorrow morning” at Hammers boss Moyes.

In his 693rd match as Premier League manager, it was Moyes’ first 4-0 lead in a match in the competition and 31 minutes was enough for Palace to finish the match as a contest.

Antonio was in the right place to score West Ham’s first-half goal in his 250th Premier League appearance for the club, becoming the third player to reach that milestone for them in the competition, after Mark Noble (414) and Aaron Cresswell (291).

It’s been a poor start to the calendar year for the Hammers. They have won just four of their 21 matches in all competitions in 2024.

West Ham will need to bounce back quickly from their defeat as they host title-chasing Liverpool on Saturday (12:30 p.m. BST).