‘Every team wants to have them’ – Andersen heaps praise on Crystal Palace duo after West Ham win

By Andrew McSteen

Crystal Palace defender Joachim Andersen believes every side would want to have Eberechi Eze and Michael Olise.

The attacking duo were instrumental in Palace’s 5-2 win over West Ham on Sunday afternoon at Selhurst Park.

Olise opened the scoring after seven minutes when he headed Andersen’s cross past Lukasz Fabianski.

Eze doubled the advantage nine minutes later when he acrobatically finished off a chance following Fabianski saving Jean-Philippe Mateta’s shot.

The creative pair – who were starting just their sixth Premier League game of the season together – also both picked up an assist each as the Eagles romped home to all three points.

“Every team wants to have them,” said Andersen.

“We haven’t seen them so much this season together but every time they’ve been playing together, they’ve been unbelievable,” said Andersen of the attacking midfielders who have had limited time on the pitch together due to injury. 

“Everyone is wishing them to stay fit and to keep playing how they do and then they can score goals like today.

“It was a long time ago that we scored five goals so it was fantastic.

“The way we started the game…to get 3-0 up in 20 minutes, that’s, of course, the way you want to start a game, and then 4-0. [We were] a little bit disappointed with the 4-1 – they had two chances in the game really. 

“The last goal for me doesn’t matter just because it’s not nice when that happens, but that’s football – sometimes you make a mistake.

“We’ve played eight games with the new manager now and seven times we’ve been 1-0 up – that’s a pretty crazy stat, to be honest,” added Andersen about the fast start.

“We always want to start good, but we knew West Ham’s strengths – that their second ball is played direct, they’re good on counters and set-pieces. We just wanted to get a good start, like we have been doing. It’s always easier when you’re 1-0 up.

“We’ve been learning every game, we know more and more what the manager wants and you see that on the pitch, you see that in training and that gives some hope and belief for next season. We just need to continue like this.

“We’ve had two good results with two good performances in a row – our first back-to-back wins in the league this season. Everyone is playing on a really good level and we need to continue that.”

With just five games left of the Premier League season, the Eagles could be safe from mathematical relegation on Wednesday with a win against Newcastle at home, before they face Fulham away next weekend.

But for Andersen and the team, the drop has not been discussed once, rather a focus on gaining maximum points to push up the table.

“We haven’t really talked about that,” added Andersen. 

“We just talked about we have three games this week, and want nine points. That’s really it. We don’t look at relegation.

“If we go down then something really crazy has happened. We just look at the next game, Newcastle, then after that, Fulham. We want nine points and that’s what we’re going for.”