One Pell of a team talk!

HALF-TIME WORDS LIFT HAMMERS

WHATEVER Manuel Pellegrini is saying to his West Ham players in the dressing at halftime these days is working.

For the second game running the Hammers scored three goals after the break to take the points.

Pellegrini’s team surged into the top 10 of the Premier League for the first time this season – and the signs are that the quiet Chilean’s east London revolution might just be beginning to take shape, after a slow start.

It was the first time the Hammers had won three league games on the bounce since December 2016 – and, incredibly, the first time they had netted three goals for three games since October 1982.

Pel l egrini ( r i ght ) beamed: “It has been a really good week. It is not easy to score three goals in three straight games.

“But the results reflect the style of football we want to play – and the players are convinced by what we are doing.

“We had a slow start but now we are now tenth. I have been trying to change the style here from the start, and I have had the support of fans. But we just have to keep improving.”

Naturally, West Ham did this the hard way. Against a Palace team that had registered just one win in ten before yesterday, they managed to go behind after six minutes, when Patrick Van Aanholt’s freekick was nodded down by James Tomkins and James Mcarthur stabbed in.

After that though, West Ham took over and pinned Palace inside their own half – though Roy Hodgson’s t eam almost grabbed a second when Luka Milivojevic’s free-kick bounced off the bar.

But once again Pell egrini ’ s half-time team talk did the trick. Two minutes after the restart they were level when the excellent Robert Snodgrass fired home his first league goal for the club from 18 yards after Palace failed to clear.

Then the Hammers, by now in complete control, took the lead when Felipe Anderson’s free-kick could only be pushed out by Wayne Hennessey, and Chicharito pounced.

Palace were rocking, and three minutes later West Ham had their third, when Anderson curled a glorious shot into the far corner.

Palace sub Jeffrey Schlupp pulled one back with a header from Max Meyer’s cross, but Hodgson’s men had left it too late.

Hodgson, whose side were beaten for the second time in four days, said: “We were fortunate to be ahead at half-time. “But we ended up chasing t h e game”