Crystal Palace maintained their 100% away record under Alan Pardew courtesy of a 3-1 victory over West Ham United at Upton Park this afternoon.
Aaron Cresswell sliced an attempted clearance from Glenn Murray's header past his own keeper to open the scoring, while Scott Dann nodded the Eagles two ahead six minutes into the second half.
Murray glanced a third in shortly after the hour mark but capped off an eventful display by receiving his marching orders as a result of two yellow cards just seven minutes later.
West Ham began to apply the pressure with their numerical advantage, but they couldn't build on Enner Valencia's 76th-minute reply as Palace held on for the points.
Here, Sports Mole takes an in-depth look at whether the visitors were worthy winners of an eventful London derby.
Match statistics
WEST HAM
Shots: 22
On target: 5
Possession: 66%
Corners: 11
Fouls: 12
CRYSTAL PALACE
Shots: 12
On target: 5
Possession: 34%
Corners: 7
Fouls: 19
Was the result fair?
Crystal Palace came under late pressure and rode their luck at times, but they were the better side over the 90 minutes and deserve their victory. The attacking statistics are all heavily in West Ham's favour, but they only began putting the visitors under a sustained amount of pressure after Murray's sending-off. Until then, Palace had dealt with everything very comfortably and put in a perfect away performance.
Of course, things may have been different had a few incidents gone the other way. The Hammers will point to the fact that they hit the woodwork twice as proof that they perhaps deserved something from the game, while Murray was fortunate to avoid a second yellow card with the scores still at 0-0 in the first half. Mike Dean gave him the benefit of the doubt, however, and that proved to be important as Murray was a central figure in Palace's plan.
The visitors created the better chances for 75 minutes of the game, despite West Ham hitting the woodwork, and while 3-0 may have looked a little harsh, the hosts could have no complaints at being behind. Their late rally warranted the goal, but had they pulled off an unlikely comeback then Palace would have been left feeling much the same as West Ham did last week when Tottenham Hotspur rescued an undeserved point at White Hart Lane.
West Ham's performance
The Hammers were so impressive against Spurs for 80 minutes and were desperately unlucky not to pick up all three points, but there was no sign of that same West Ham side today. Sam Allardyce named an unchanged XI in the hope of putting in a similar performance, but it was nowhere near the level they managed last weekend. The midfield trio, who dominated proceedings at White Hart Lane, had a fraction of the influence on this game and Alex Song in particular had a shocker.
Diafra Sakho and Valencia can be a nightmare for defenders as they chase everything down, but Palace simply gave the hosts no space to operate today. While they had room to manoeuvre in the middle of the park against Spurs, they found themselves facing a team content to sit back and hit on the break this time around. They enjoyed plenty of the ball, but couldn't do anything with it and always looked susceptible to the counter-attack.
Jason Puncheon was afforded far too much space in dangerous areas, while Murray continually found space to get a shot away inside the box. However, perhaps the most frustrating thing for Allardyce from this defeat will be that all of Palace's goals came from set pieces - usually a strength of West Ham's play. It is now one win in 10 Premier League games for the Irons and, while the season must go down as a success, Allardyce's hopes of a new contract will not be helped by their campaign petering out.
Crystal Palace's performance
It took a while for Palace to get going in this match, but when they did settle they went on to put in a superb away performance. They were content to let the hosts have the lion's share of possession, soaking up the pressure with ease before hitting on the counter-attack. The likes of Yannick Bolasie and Wilfried Zaha will always pose a threat on the break, while Murray's tireless performance was also important after an opening 20 minutes or so when he looked isolated.
Palace had luck on their side as well today, with the opening goal coming through a poor mistake from Cresswell and West Ham hitting the woodwork twice. However, they arrived at Upton Park with a gameplan and, for almost 70 minutes, pulled it off to perfection. The red card did change the game as Palace retreated deeper and deeper, but by then they had a commanding lead and it would have taken an uncharacteristic collapse for them to let it slip.
Pardew will be delighted with his side following this performance, with the result lifting them eight points clear of the relegation zone. If they can reproduce these sorts of displays at Selhurst Park then a top-half finish is by no means out of the question this season, while relegation appears to be an unlikely fate for a team who have been so good on their travels recently.
Sports Mole's man of the match
Jason Puncheon: Only the red card prevents Murray from picking up this award but, despite not getting his own name on the scoresheet, Puncheon was just as important to the cause today. He set up a number of chances for Murray in the first half and also picked up three assists, swinging in the corners that led to the first two goals and the free kick that brought about the third. He was afforded far too much space by Song and took full advantage.
Biggest gaffe
This one is an easy decision this afternoon. Murray's header shortly before half time lacked power and looked like being the simplest of saves for Adrian, but Cresswell was there in front of his keeper to skew an attempted clearance into his own net. It was a shocking error from the left-back and, even though Murray's tame header was on target, will surely go down as an own goal.
Referee performance
The biggest decision for Dean today was the red card, but he had little option other than to send Murray off. He could have done so much earlier in the game but chose to be lenient when Murray's foul on Cheikhou Kouyate would have surely brought a caution had he not already been booked. The challenge that eventually earned the second yellow was not a particularly bad or malicious one, but it was late and Murray had no complaints with the decision.
The officials did miss one incident in the match where Mile Jedinak appeared to throw an elbow at Sakho inside the box, catching the West Ham striker in the head. It was a nasty piece of play from the Palace skipper and could well result in retrospective action being taken against him.
What next?
West Ham: West Ham's tough fixture list continues with the third of four straight London derbies as they host league leaders Chelsea at Upton Park on Wednesday evening.
Crystal Palace: Palace, meanwhile, are in action a day earlier as they take on Southampton at St Mary's on Tuesday.
Barney Corkhill
