10-man Palace are Clattered!

October 17 2015

Dwight Gayle

Crystal Palace lost 3-1 to West Ham after playing half the game with just 10 men.

Dwight Gayle was sent off after foolishly getting a second yellow card just before the break with the score at 1-1 to leave Palace with an almighty uphill struggle to stay in the game. Even so, it was an extremely harsh judgement by referee Mark Clattenburg.

Carl Jenkinson had put the Hammers ahead in the 22nd minute after he stole in front of the ball-watching Wilfried Zaha to tuck home.

Palace responded straight away when ref Clattenburg awarded a penalty after Jenkinson clattered Gayle on the edge of the box.

Gayle almost cost Palace a goal as Yohan Cabaye dispatched the kick but Clattenburg ordered a retake after Gayle encroached into the area. Luckily, Cabaye held his nerve and put away the spot-kick on the second attempt on 25 minutes.

A fired-up Gayle, who had previously been booked for a foul on Dimitri Payet, then launched a stupid, unnecessary tackle on Cheikhou Kouyate on the halfway line and Clattenburg needlessly ruined the game by sending him off.

Eagles boss Alan Pardew bought on Bakary Sako for an ineffective Zaha for the second half and pushed Yannick Bolasie up front in a 4-4-1 formation.

The hosts defended solidly for the majority of the encounter until Manuel Lanzini cruelly popped up with just two minutes left to give West Ham the lead.

And with Palace throwing men forward in search of a desperate equaliser, it left a gaping hole at the back for Payet to make it a glossy 3-1 scoreline in stoppage time.