West Ham United 1-1 Crystal Palace: Christian Benteke sent off at London Stadium

Sebastien Haller scored a spectacular equaliser with an overhead kick to earn West Ham a point against London rivals Crystal Palace.

Benteke beat Issa Diop to Joel Ward’s superb delivery to plant a diving header beyond Lukasz Fabianski.

But the Hammers levelled when Ivory Coast forward Haller showed wonderful technique to send an overhead kick beyond Vicente Guaita after meeting Vladimir Coufal’s cross.

The £45m signing from Eintracht Frankfurt described it as a “special” goal, while West Ham boss David Moyes added: “One of my first games he scored a scissor kick. It’s the tap-ins I want him to score as well.

“We need somebody to come up with the goods. We got a wondergoal from him, we really did.”

Benteke, who had earlier caught Angelo Ogbonna with his elbow, was dismissed 20 minutes from time for a second yellow card for a similar offence on Tomas Soucek.

“It was a ludicrous decision,” said Palace boss Roy Hodgson. “He only tried to use his arm for leverage and honestly win the ball.

“It’s odd to sit here and say these things as if you’re some monster who wants everything to go his way.

“Decisions like that are ruining the game.”

Benteke’s mixed fortunes

There were few clear-cut chances in a tightly fought London derby but Benteke showed he might be returning to his form of old – before he was dismissed by referee David Coote.

Having scored two in Palace’s last away game at West Brom, he now has as many Premier League goals as he managed in the previous two seasons.

Benteke stood out in an energetic first-half display, scoring, creating another chance and having five attempts at goal.

He timed his run to perfection to meet Ward’s delivery and send Palace into the lead.

But after Haller’s equaliser Benteke’s night took a turn for the worse when he was given his marching orders after catching Soucek, having already been booked for making contact with Ogbonna with his right elbow in the first half.

It means Benteke will miss the visit of his former club Liverpool to Selhurst Park on Saturday.

Moyes agreed with his opposite number Hodgson that the red card was harsh.

“I didn’t think it was sending-off. If you jump then there’s the fear of clashing of heads or flailing arms,” said the Hammers boss.

Hammers prove a point

Despite dropping two points and missing a chance to move into the top five, West Ham are approaching Moyes’ first anniversary in good health.

The Hammers were 17th in the table, one point above relegation, when he returned to take charge for a second time on 30 December 2019.

Twelve months on and Moyes has put together a side that is hard to beat and boasts creative flare and a hard-working mentality.

They now have 21 points from 13 games, just 18 short of the total they managed for the whole of 2019-20.

Against a determined Palace side, West Ham struggled to hit the heights of last Friday’s performance when they came from behind to win at Leeds, but once again they showed character to claw themselves back after falling behind.

Haller’s goal was the highlight of the match, an exquisite finish which Vicente Guaita, Palace’s hero against leaders Tottenham last Sunday, had no chance of keeping out.

Palace dig deep after Benteke setback

Palace are in decent form as they get ready to host reigning champions Liverpool in the early kick-off on Saturday.

The worry for Roy Hodgson, who made three changes to freshen up his side, will be that his team have won only once in five games.

But just as they did against Spurs, they gave a good account of themselves against one of the Premier League’s form teams.

Palace created the better chances in the first half and, after they took the lead, Andros Townsend set up a great chance for Benteke who was unable to finish.

After Benteke’s dismissal, the visitors regrouped to frustrate West Ham, with Scott Dann and Cheikhou Kouyate particularly commanding at the back.

“The last three games, our attacking play has been particularly potent,” added Hodgson. “We’re getting some joy from it.”

Goal and red card in the same game – the stats

• Two of the past three occasions that a player has both scored and been sent off in a Premier League game have been Crystal Palace players – Christian Benteke today and Wilfried Zaha against Southampton in January 2019.
• West Ham boss David Moyes has only been beaten once in eight Premier League meetings with Crystal Palace (W5 D2).
• The Hammers have avoided defeat on each of the past three occasions they have conceded the first goal in a Premier League game.
• Crystal Palace have failed to keep a clean sheet in any of their past 12 Premier League matches.

What’s next?

West Ham are involved in another London derby next Monday when they face Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in the Premier League (20:00 GMT), while Crystal Palace host Liverpool at 12:30 GMT on Saturday.