SEBASTIEN HALLER’S SPECTACULAR strike rescued a point for West Ham in a 1-1 derby draw against Crystal Palace.
The £45million striker, in danger of being labelled a costly flop after a string of underwhelming displays, netted with a stunning overhead kick to cancel out Christian Benteke’s opener.
Benteke went from hero to zero after the break when sent off for catching Tomas Soucek with his trailing arm as they went up for a header, but 10-man Palace held out for a point.
It was probably no more than they deserved after a dominant first-half display.
Eberechi Eze caught the eye for Palace in the opening stages, the £16million youngster signed from QPR playing a neat one-two with Wilfried Zaha only for his low cross to fizz straight across goal.
Moments later, Joel Ward crossed from the right but Benteke could not get enough on his header from four yards out and the ball bounced wide.
Nevertheless, West Ham had been warned, although they almost made the breakthrough when Vladimir Coufal’s cross found Pablo Fornals 10 yards out but his header flew the wrong side of the far post.
Instead Palace went ahead in the 35th minute when Ward whipped in another cross from the right.
This time Benteke, now in what for him is a rich vein of goalscoring form, got in front of Issa Diop to head home his third in three matches for the visitors.
West Ham equalised 10 minutes after the interval in style through Haller, who has been toiling on his own in the Hammers attack of late as replacement for the injured livewire Michail Antonio.
But he made his mark when Coufal crossed from the right, the Ivory Coast forward executing a superb bicycle kick which flew past Guaita and into the net.
Benteke had been booked in the first half for catching Angelo Ogbonna with a flailing arm and, much to his disbelief, he was shown a second yellow 20 minutes from time for the same indiscretion against Soucek.
West Ham looked for a winner but Declan Rice fired inches wide as both these upwardly mobile sides were forced to settle for a point.
Meanwhile, Fulham moved out of the bottom three following a hard-fought goalless draw with Brighton at Craven Cottage.
Adam Lallana thought he had scored his first goal for Brighton since joining the club in the summer, but it was ruled out by VAR for a handball in the build-up.
Scott Parker’s men went into the game having taken four points from their last three games against Leicester, Manchester City and Liverpool and another point against the Seagulls saw them move out of the relegation places on goal difference.
It was a cagey game of few chances, which resulted in just eight shots on target – four from each team – as neither side was able to find a decisive breakthrough.
Both sides were reduced to long-range efforts in the opening 20 minutes, with Yves Bissouma and Bobby Decordova-Reid trying their luck from distance, but both efforts were saved easily by the respective goalkeepers.
Roberto Sanchez was forced into his first real save of the match in the 42nd minute to keep out a well-struck drive from Ivan Cavaleiro, with the following corner also tipped over the crossbar.
Brighton looked to have taken the lead at the start of the second half, with Lallana tapping the ball into the back of the net after Danny Welbeck controlled a Solly March cross. But the goal was ruled out by the video assistant referee for a handball by Welbeck.
Moments later, the game was stopped for another VAR review at the other end for a challenge from Adam Webster on Ademola Lookman, but nothing was given.
The Seagulls piled on the pressure, with Webster’s close-range header bouncing off the underside of the crossbar and away.
Sanchez made another good save in the 68th minute to deny Ruben Loftus-Cheek, who turned expertly from a throw-in to run at goal and get his shot away.
But neither team was able to produce a game-changing piece of quality and both sides had to settle for a point. Aaron Connolly was an unused substitute for Brighton.
With reporting by Gavin Cooney
