Four takeaways from Crystal Palace’s 3-2 defeat by West Ham United – Reckless Milivojevic gives away a needless penalty as Palace suffer second Selhurst Park loss

A double from Manuel Lanzini after Wandsworth-born Michail Antonio scored the opener gave West Ham all three points and condemned Crystal Palace to their second defeat at Selhurst Park under Patrick Vieira.

Odsonne Edouard and Michael Olise both scored in the final seven minutes of the contest, but there was not enough time for Palace to grab the equaliser and rescue a point.

Patrick Vieira returned to the Crystal Palace dugout after completing his isolation following his positive Covid-19 test. But he could not welcome back talisman Wilfried Zaha, who was still missing after serving his suspension for the red card he received against Spurs on Boxing Day.

The Frenchman was also without Cheikhou Kouyate but could reintroduce Luka Milivojevic and Christian Benteke to the starting line up and had Olise and Eberechi Eze to the bench.

Here are Edmund Brack’s four takeaways from Selhurst Park:

PALACE START BRIGHTLY BUT CAN’T CAPITALISE 

The South Londoners should have been 1-0 up in the opening 45 seconds at Selhurst Park. Will Hughes’ cross was deflected to the back post and found the arriving Jordan Ayew.

Instead of being selfish and trying a shot from a tight angle, Ayew played the ball to Jeffrey Schlupp, who was in front of goal and had only Lukasz Fabianski to beat. Schlupp could only agonisingly direct his effort on to the left-hand post.

The electric start only continued to ramp up. Christian Benteke led the line by bringing others into play and winning clever free-kicks in dangerous positions – and Hughes and Schlupp were swarming West Ham at any opportunity.

It was Palace’s pressing football at its very best – denying David Moyes’ side any room to breath and flying forward.

ABYSMAL 15 MINUTES OF DEFENDING PALACE’S DOWNFALL

After the intense opening 10 minutes, two goals in two minutes undid all of Palace’s good work.

The first warning sign that should have alerted the Eagles came when Vicente Guaita made a triple save to deny Michail Antonio twice and Said Benrahma on the rebound. But Palace allowed the visitors to take confidence from their first passage of play and yielded to anything thrown their way in the following 15 minutes.

For West Ham’s first, Benrahma confused the entire backline with a curling cross that was begging to be tapped home. Marc Guehi was outmuscled by Antonio, who poked the ball past the helpless Guaita.

West Ham doubled their lead moments later.

Declan Rice was afforded the luxury and freedom of Selhurst Park to drive from deep and pick out Manuel Lanzini in space. The Argentine showcased his nimble footwork to dance his way through the defence and slam a shot past Guaita, but the goal was avoidable in the build-up.

RECKLESS MILIVOJEVIC HANDS WEST HAM A CHANCE 

Although Vieira berated the referee Darren England at half time as the players headed down into the tunnel, there certainly should not have been any complaint about the needless and ridiculous penalty Luka Milivojevic gave away to hand West Ham their third.

Clearing the ball from his own penalty area, the Crystal Palace captain decided to steady himself and allow the ball to bounce off his own arm. While it first appeared to be outside the box, VAR showed that Milivojevic had deliberately handled the ball.

The recklessness of that split second allowed West Ham to score their third and kill off any chance of Crystal Palace getting back into the contest.

The Serbian midfielder was taken off in the 60th minute for Jean-Philippe Mateta.

MICHAEL OLISE HAS TO START

With two big games against South London rivals Millwall in the FA Cup and Brighton in the Premier League next up for Crystal Palace, Vieira must deploy Olise so that they take the game to their opponents.

The 20-year-old French U18 international has been directly involved in a goal every 63 minutes in the Premier League this season – and the sheer havoc and confusion he creates amongst opposition defences when he is on the ball is a joy to watch.

While Olise has been held back from making an immediate impact on the Premier League and becoming a regular starter, he could quickly write his name into Crystal Palace folklore if he can make an impact in these upcoming games.

Olise is the first player to score and assist a goal as a substitute for Crystal Palace in the Premier League.

In his 22-minute appearance on Saturday, Olise completed 100 per cent of his passing, created four chances and won three ground duals.

With Ayew and Zaha departing for AFCON, now it’s time for Olise to stamp his authority on the side.

PICTURES: KEITH GILLARD