www.silverguide.site –

Slowly but surely, West Ham are edging their way to safety. While this battling draw against a Crystal Palace side with their minds elsewhere proved terminal to his former club Wolves as it confirmed their relegation, Nuno Espírito Santo had to be satisfied with a point after Brennan Johnson missed the best chance to boost his former employers Tottenham.

Palace, who have now been involved in eight stalemates this season, were indebted to captain Dean Henderson for producing the save of the night to deny Konstantinos Mavropanos just before half-time, although West Ham struggled to create much else. Nuno will be disappointed not to have stretched their advantage over Tottenham to four points, although their fate remains very much in their hands with David Moyes’s Everton next up on Saturday.

After Brighton’s Georginio Rutter was the toast of the east end on Saturday night with his late equaliser against Spurs, Nuno challenged his players to take their opportunity against a Palace side still recovering from their exploits in the Conference League – a competition West Ham know well. Footage of Adam Wharton and co out in Florence in the early hours of Friday morning that went viral on social media as they celebrated with supporters would have only given them more encouragement.

The England midfielder had to come off in Italy with a recurrence of the adductor injury he sustained on international duty last month and was not part of the matchday squad as Oliver Glasner made four changes, although Wharton is expected to recover in time for the meeting with Liverpool at the weekend. West Ham were unsurprisingly unchanged from their 4-0 win against Wolves 10 days ago, with consistency in selection one of the keys to their revival in recent weeks. Back in mid-January, West Ham trailed Tottenham by 13 points but they have steadily whittled that down, having picked up 18 from their next 11 matches.

Their north London rivals have managed only four draws and no wins to sink into the relegation zone.

West Ham’s defence has vastly improved since Axel Disasi’s arrival on loan from Chelsea in January, although they were unsettled by two players that cost Palace £85m in the same month. Jørgen Strand Larsen – eager to establish himself ahead of Jean-Philippe Mateta – was off target with an early volley before Johnson spurned two gilt-edged chances. The Wales forward has endured a difficult start to life in south London after his move from Spurs and showed his lack of confidence when heading wide from Tyrick Mitchell’s cross, even if his next attempt with his right foot was much closer.

The visitors had to bide their time in attack and Disasi should have made more of an opportunity from close range that saw him eventually flagged offside. Taty Castellanos produced a spectacular overhead kick when Henderson’s poor punch fell to him but Maxence Lacroix was able to hack it clear. Henderson made up for his error when he pulled off a flying save just before the break to deny a header from Mavropanos that was arrowing into the top corner. Watching on from the directors’ box with the Palace chair, Steve Parish, Alan Pardew looked suitably entertained by the game between two of his former clubs.

The West Ham fans seemed disappointed that only a small number of their Palace counterparts joined in their chorus of “We hate Millwall” – who could be promoted to the Premier League for the first time – at the start of the second half. An incensed Glasner let his frustration be known as his side struggled to get going after the break and Johnson wasted another opening. It didn’t take long for the cavalry to arrive as Mateta, Ismaïla Sarr and Daichi Kamada were all introduced off the bench.

Mads Hermansen looked extremely relieved when he almost dropped the ball to the waiting Sarr from a Daniel Muñoz cross but just managed to recover his error. At the other end Jaydee Canvot – the French teenager who has stepped up superbly in Palace’s defence since the departure of Marc Guéhi to Manchester City in January – gave more evidence of his growing reputation with a series of excellent blocks.

Nuno threw on Callum Wilson in the hope of grabbing a winner but neither side showed enough to earn all three points. Sarr had the ball in the net with eight minutes to play in a moment that must have got the Tottenham supporters watching at home off their sofas.

Yet their hopes were dashed when referee Darren England immediately disallowed it because the ball had struck Mateta on the arm. As Spurs are finding out the hard way, those are the breaks when things aren’t going your way.