August 23 2014

Marouane Chamakh (Photo: Andy Roberts)

Crystal Palace lost their second game in a row with a 3-1 defeat against West Ham at Selhurst Park.

Caretaker boss Keith Millen opted for Damien Delaney to replace the injured Scott Dann in the heart of defence, and Barry Bannan started on the right in place of Jason Puncheon.

Joe Ledley was due to partner Mile Jedinak in the centre of midfield but the Welshman injured himself in the warm up and was replaced by Stuart O'Keefe.

The Eagles started the game brightly but failed to carve out any clear cut chances.

It was the visitors who took the lead in the 34th minute. Mark Noble's shot took a deflection off the back of Jedinak and landed at the feet of Mauro Zarate, who volleyed it into the net to score on his debut.

It went from bad to worse for Palace three minutes later when Stewart Downing curled the ball past Julian Speroni to put the Hammers 2-0 up.

A few minutes into the second half Palace pulled a goal back through Marouane Chamakh, drilling the ball home from 20 yards after Jedinak found him space.

But West Ham restored their two goal advantage on 62 minutes. A free kick was floated into the area and nodded down by Ricardo Vaz Te towards the unmarked Carlton Cole, who struck a shot past the unsighted Speroni.

Overall a very disappointing performance from Palace, one they need to forget about very quickly.

Palace: Speroni, Kelly, Delaney, Hangeland, Ward, Bannan (Williams - 71' ), Jedinak, Bolasie, O'Keefe (Murray - 83' ), Campbell (Gayle - 70' ), Chamakh

Subs not used: Hennessey, Mariappa, McCarthy, Guédioura

2014/15 squad stats

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