Bilic fumes as Antonio gaffe helps Zaha gain late point for Palace
SLAVEN BILIC was on his knees while captain Mark Noble wanted to fight anyone who fancied it.
For West Ham it was all too much to comprehend.
Thirty seconds from a jobsaving victory, Bilic could only watch as Wilfried Zaha fired home an equaliser for Crystal Palace in the last of six minutes of added time.
Bilic knew the score today: victory against Palace would keep him in a job. Defeat… and who knows?
This draw should be enough to keep the wolf from his door for now. But how West Ham contrived to throw this one away would have kept Bilic awake last night.
It was all too much for Noble, who was involved in an angry confrontation with Palace midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek after the final whistle and had to be led away.
But Bilic shouldn’t take the flak this time. That responsibility lies squarely with two players: Angelo Ogbonna and Michail Antonio.
West Ham were cruising before Ogbonna made a senseless challenge on Andros Townsend in the box to hand Palace a 50th-minute lifeline.
Similarly, Antonio’s decision to cross into keeper Julian Speroni’s arms instead of keeping the ball in the corner in the final minute defied logic.
Seconds later Zaha fired the Eagles level. Fine margins define football matches. Stupidity defined this one for West Ham.
Bilic criticised Antonio for his costly error, saying: ‘All we had to do was keep the ball for five more seconds.
‘Of course I spoke with him. He knows that now. He is the one who should keep the ball one against one on the line. For ever. But he opted for a cross.
‘Do I expect more? Of course, it shouldn’t happen at this level of football. But it’s a team game and we were naive. You take the good and bad.
‘It’s very emotional — we knew how important this was. So to concede like that is a killer. It feels like a defeat.’
For Roy Hodgson it felt more like a win, his side staging a stirring secondhalf comeback to breath life into their survival bid.
Palace remain five points from safety but this should galvanise the Eagles. ‘It showed me this team have more character than maybe sometimes they’re credited with,’ said Hodgson.
‘It would have been very easy for people to feel a bit sorry for themselves. But it was a strong performance in the second half to put that 2-0 behind us and get out and do what we did and come back.
‘I’m hoping that will give us a bit of confidence, a bit of security in the minds of the players who know even when things are going against us luck-wise, they can still turn it around.’
West Ham took a 31stminute lead with a move that ended in Javier Hernandez expertly finishing Aaron Cresswell’s cut-back.
It had been swift and incisive. Palace, in contrast, were slow and indecisive.
Yet if it had not been for Joe Hart’s lightning reactions, Palace would have levelled five minutes later.
The England goalkeeper’s point-blank stop for James Tomkins’s close-range header was good enough, but to follow that up with an instinctive save to deny Jeffrey Schlupp’s follow-up was breathtaking.
To complete Palace’s nightmare first half, the Hammers doubled their lead two minutes before half-time as Andre Ayew took full advantage of Luka Milivojevic’s error to blast home an unstoppable drive.
Ogbonna gifted Palace a route back into the game five minutes after the restart.
Quite why he felt he had to challenge Townsend deep inside his own area is anybody’s guess.
Townsend was going nowhere.
The Italian pleaded his innocence but he knew — so did his team-mates. Most importantly of all, so did referee Bobby Madley, who pointed to the spot.
Milivojevic stepped up to atone for his error by sending Hart the wrong way. Suddenly Selhurst Park was jumping. Yohan Cabaye hit the post while Hart, who was having his best game since joining on loan from Manchester City, was in inspired form.
The keeper twice denied Zaha and saved Cabaye’s goal-bound free-kick before Tomkins hit the bar in the 90th minute.
The Hammers probably thought they were home and dry.
Zaha had other ideas, mesmerising Ogbonna and Declan Rice before firing past Hart just seconds after Antonio’s ridiculous error.
Heartbreaking for Bilic. Galvanising for Hodgson. CRYSTAL PALACE (4-3-2-1): Speroni 6.5; Ward 6 (Sako 60min, 6), Tomkins 6.5, Dann 6.5, Van Aanholt 5 (Fosu-Mensah 11, 6.5); Milivojevic 6.5, Cabaye 7, Loftus-Cheek 7; Townsend 7.5, Schlupp 7; Zaha 7.5. Subs (not used): Kelly, Hennessey, Delaney, Puncheon, Riedewald. Booked: Dann. WEST HAM (3-5-2): Hart 8.5; Fonte 6.5 (Rice 76), Kouyate 7.5, Ogbonna 6; Zabaleta 6 (Antonio 62), Noble 7.5, Fernandes 7, Lanzini 6.5, Cresswell 7 (Masuaku 46, 6.5); Ayew 8, Hernandez 7.5. Subs (not used): Adrian, Arnautovic, Carroll, Obiang. Booked: Zabaleta, Masuaku. Referee: R Madley 6.5.