Clinical West Ham punish Palace

Second-half goals from Tomas Soucek and Jarrod Bowen gave West Ham United their first Premier League win of the season as they cruised to a 2-0 victory over Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park on Saturday.

Both sides had early chances, Mohammed Kudus flashing a shot wide for the Hammers in the 11th minute and Palace forward Eberechi Eze denied by keeper Alphonse Areola five minutes later.

The best chance fell to the home side as they pulled off a well-worked short corner just before the break that resulted in Eze firing a curling shot that smacked off the crossbar and bounced away to safety.

With the sides cancelling each other out for most of the game, West Ham finally broke the deadlock when Aaron Wan-Bissaka, a recent arrival from Manchester United, came off the bench and launched a counter-attack up the right wing.

Wan-Bissaka found Bowen further forward and his pass into the middle caused chaos in the Palace defence, and their inability to clear the ball was punished when Soucek made a trademark late run to steer the ball home.

The goal celebrations were cut short when an advertising hoarding collapsed under the weight of West Ham fans rushing to celebrate with Soucek, and he and Bowen had to rescue a ball boy who had become stuck under it.

"I've seen him after the game, he's got my top now and he's smiling so he's all good," Bowen said.

Hammers captain Bowen added the second goal five minutes later, latching on to a brilliant crossfield pass by Max Kilman before cutting on to his favoured left foot and lashing his shot into the net.

Jolted into life, Palace created a number of chances in quick succession and Ismail Sarr came closest to pulling a goal back, but his effort shaved the outside of the left-hand post.

Hammers boss Julen Lopetegui brought Edson Alvarez off the bench and the Mexican defensive midfielder wasted no time shutting down the middle of the field to enable his side to hold on and give their new coach his first win.

"I think the last two weeks have been harsh lessons, but it's a long season, it's early on in the season, so we have to turn it around," Palace defender Chris Richards said following his side's second league defeat in a row.