ME AND MY GALL!
Vieira praises loan kid Conor
CONOR GALLAGHER spoiled West Ham’s perfect start to the season, but David Moyes blamed the pitch for the lost points.
On-loan Chelsea forward Gallagher struck twice after the break, to help Crystal Palace avoid another crushing defeat.
And leave Moyes lamenting that his Hammers are not heading into the international break with a maximum nine points.
After a pulsating London derby, the Irons chief let rip at the poor London Stadium surface. Moyes moaned: ”I’m not happy with the quality of the pitch. That’s not an excuse, but it’s not good enough for the Premier League.”
The hosts remained top of the Premier League table at the final whistle, but Moyes cursed their inability to keep a lead – not just once, but twice.
Pablo Fornals and Michail Antonio were on target for West Ham who, despite remaining unbeaten, failed to impress manager Moyes.
The Scot, who confirmed they are closing in on the £26million signing of Chelsea defender Kurt Zouma, said: “We gave away a couple soft goals from our point of view.
“The players are disappointed in the dressing room, but that tells you the standards we’ve set ourselves.
“We just didn’t play to those standards. We didn’t get any rhythm, even though we still scored two goals.”
In stark contrast, Palace’s rookie Premier League boss Patrick Vieira was full of joy.
The Frenchman, whose side had not scored before yesterday, said: “This was well deserved.
“I’m really pleased with the character and our second-half performance.
“I never had any doubts about us being able to score goals because of the hard work I have seen in training every day.
“We’d been unlucky in games before today.”
The Arsenal Invincible then hailed the display of Eagles hero Gallagher, adding: “He’s very calm in the box and a very good finisher.
“Put him in these positions and he’ll always score.”
It was West Ham who took an early grip, with two raking diagonal Declan Rice passes sparking a sustained spell of pressure.
Antonio had two shots blocked and Jarrod Bowen just failed to connect with Said Benrahma’s far-post cross before Joel Ward’s 23rdminute clearance prevented Joachim Andersen heading into their net.
A West Ham opener was coming, though – and duly arrived five minutes before the interval, courtesy of the cutest of moves.
Benrahma released Antonio, who checked back inside to play in Fornals only to get the ball straight back.
This time West Ham’s new record Premier League goalscorer would surely pull the trigger. Wrong!
Instead, he passed again to Fornals who, with the wrongfooted Palace defence in utter disarray, slotted in.
It was no more than West Ham deserved, although one felt they should have been out of sight by half-time such was their dominance.
There was no let-up for Palace keeper Vicente Guaita after the break as Benrahma forced him into a sharp 50th-minute stop.
Complacency was the most obvious danger to a home victory – along with Vieria’s troops suddenly resorting to route-one tactics.
That unlikely combination did the trick on the hour mark when Wilfried Zaha crossed for Christian Benteke to nod into Gallagher’s path.
The on-loan Chelsea man still had plenty to do as he controlled with the chest to lose his marker and then stabbed in the equaliser.
Palace’s joy was short-lived. Andersen miscued a headed clearance, allowing Antonio through to restore the Hammers’ lead.
But that lasted barely 60 seconds as Gallagher fired in James Mcarthur’s low cross.
Conor is very calm in the box and a good finisher. Put him in those kinds of positions and he will always score for you