LONDON: Glenn Murray scored twice and was sent off as resurgent Crystal Palace registered a 3-1 Premier League win against a toothless West Ham United at Upton Park on Saturday to heap further misery on the stuttering east London side.

Murray’s header gave Palace a fortuitous lead in the 41st minute before Scott Dann doubled their advantage in the 51st minute with a powerful header.

Murray, in the thick of the action all afternoon, added his second in the 63rd minute but was dismissed six minutes later for a second yellow card before Enner Valencia scored a 76th minute consolation goal for the hosts.

Eighth-placed West Ham have won just two of their last 12 league games since climbing to fourth in mid-December while Crystal Palace, up to 12th, have won four of their seven games since Alan Pardew joined the club last month.

West Ham went close to taking the lead when Mark Noble’s 20-yard free-kick cannoned off the woodwork with Palace goalkeeper Julian Speroni rooted to the spot.

But Palace were soon in the ascendency and Murray fired straight at Hammers goalkeeper Adrian after running onto Jason Puncheon’s pass.

Murray didn’t need to rue that miss for long as he put Palace ahead when he met Puncheon’s corner with a header which Ham­mers defender Aaron Cress­well slashed into his own net with a woefully mistimed attempt to hack clear.

Murray’s second goal in his last two appearances was even more frustrating for West Ham as he had escaped a red card earlier in the half after a crude challenge just moments after being booked by referee Mike Dean.

Palace doubled their lead six minutes after the interval when centre-back Dann climbed above Winston Reid to meet Puncheon’s corner with a header that was too powerful for Adrian to keep out.

Hammers manager Sam Allardyce sent on Brazilian winger Nene for his debut after an hour, but within three minutes Murray had ended the contest as he dived full length to head Puncheon’s free-kick into the far corner.

Nene hit the woodwork for be­fore Valencia struck with a 20-metre shot but it was way too late to prevent a chorus of boos from the home fans at full-time.

Published in Dawn March 1st , 2015

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