West Ham United were left wondering whether it was one point gained or two points dropped as a lacklustre 0-0 draw at Crystal Palace left them hovering just above the Premier League relegation zone on Monday.
Victory would have put Nuno Espirito-Santo’s resurgent side four points above third-from-bottom Tottenham Hotspur with five games left, but the stalemate leaves them in peril.
West Ham stay in 17th place with 33 points from 33 matches with 18th-placed Tottenham on 31 from the same number of games. They also have an inferior goal difference to Tottenham.
West Ham host Everton on Saturday while Tottenham are at bottom club Wolverhampton Wanderers whose relegation was confirmed by the draw at Selhurst Park.
“A very tough, balanced match. It could have gone both ways,” the West Ham manager, whose side were seven points from the safety zone in mid-January, told Sky Sports. “It will go all the way, for sure. Not only at the bottom of the table but at the top. This season has been very tight.
“We have a mission ahead and keep going.”
Monday’s London derby would have been closely followed in north London with Tottenham desperately hoping that Palace would do them a favour in the relegation scrap.
The closest West Ham came to scoring was a powerful Konstantinos Mavropanos header from El Hadji Malick Diouf’s cross in the first half that produced a reflex save from Dean Henderson while Taty Castellanos had a bicycle kick blocked.
Palace, who have their eyes on a Conference League semifinal, were second-best in the opening period although they should have scored when Brennan Johnson, Tottenham’s match-winning hero in last season’s Europa League final, somehow headed off target to extend his goal drought.
Johnson also curled a much better effort just wide.
Palace bossed the second period and substitute Ismaila Sarr did have the ball in the net but his effort was ruled out for a handball by Jean-Philippe Mateta.
Palace’s sixth 0-0 draw this season stretched their unbeaten run in the league to four games and they stayed in 13th place in the standings with 43 points.
Manager Oliver Glasner offered support for Johnson who is yet to score in 19 appearances for Palace since switching from Tottenham in the January transfer window.
“He was a big threat today. It’s not just goals the attackers score, he did very well out of possession. It was a good step in the right direction,” he said.
Source: Khaleej Times