Manuel strike takes Irons out of drop zone

squabbling among themselves at their new home and, just to compound the problems, Bilic had to contend with a worryingly long injury list too.

But they defied all the previous evidence with a fluent, fighting display after Bilic opted to play three at the back. It worked an absolute treat. And the Hammers completely outfought and outnumbered Palace to put them on the back foot.

Cresswell, returning from injury, revelled in his role down the left side of the five-man midfield, particularly in the first half.

His constant runs down the left gave West Ham an outlet as they showed an unexpected confidence and it was he who linked with Dimitri Payet to give West Ham a deserved lead.

After a neat exchange of passes with the French star, Cresswell finally engineered the space to cross and Manuel Lanzini timed his run perfectly to tuck the ball home.

The Argentine scored in both matches between the two sides last term and has now scored eight goals for West Ham, six of them away from home.

Palace had an even worse start to the season than West Ham, but Alan Pardew steadied the ship.

Benteke, the club’s record £ 27million signing, has been revitalised since his move from Liverpool, showing just why he was rated one of the best young strikers in the Premier League when he moved from Aston Villa to Anfield.

Fresh from a hattrick with Belgium and the birth of his baby daughter, the striker’s smiles were soon replaced by scowls and howls of frustration.

When Zaha’s appeals for a free-kick on the edge of the area were waved away by referee Atkinson, Benteke chased the loose ball into the box and was judged to have been brought down by Angelo Ogbonna.

So after spending most of the period shackled brilliantly by Winston Reid, Benteke was finally free of his marker for the spot-kick.

But it was as if he could feel Reid on his shoulder – and his terrible effort sailed high and wide.

He nearly atoned with the final touch of the half, but his header clipped the outside of the post.

Early in the second half, Payet had a good chance, but took too long to shoot and the keeper was ready for it.

And Jason Puncheon needed to clear off his line, before Cresswell became the victim of injustice.

But victory was only secured when Adrian made a brilliant save in the dying seconds to deny substitute Connor Wickham.

Afterwards, Bilic ( left) said: “We showed everything – character, spirit and we deserved to win. The goal we scored was an amazing move from many players.

“We showed how good a team we are and how good a unit we are.”