How Marouane Chamakh silenced West Ham

Marouane Chamakh celebrates after scoring against West Ham

Crystal Palace beat off a misfiring West Ham side at Selhurst Park last night thanks to a solitary goal from ex-Arsenal star Marouane Chamakh.

The former Bordeaux forward gained a lot of abuse from Arsenal fans for his disappointing displays for the club and he seems to have continued them at Palace.

However, the three points his vital header won for the club last night will cloud over any indication of a poor performance.

The victory was Tony Pulis’ first at home as Palace moved off the bottom of the Premier League table and look set to reignite their season after a terrible start under Ian Holloway.

Chamakh’s header was his only effort on goal against the Hammers, which gave him a 100% shot accuracy for the evening.

Chamakh wasn’t involved in much of the game but did complete 81% of his passes (25/31). Of those 25, one was a key pass inside West Ham’s penalty area.

His Heat Map was even more impressive, showing just how much ground he covered during the 84 minutes he was on the pitch. Chamakh drifted out to the right wing but also got in behind West Ham’s defenders, giving plenty of penetration to Palace’s attacks. He also dropped deeper throughout to help out the midfield. His work-rate was fantastic and his goal was everything he deserved.

Palace and Chamakh have struggled a lot this season but if last night’s performance was anything to go by, he’ll have no problems leading their forward line for the remainder of the season.

The only problem with his performance were his duels, in which he won just 29%. They included winning 50% of his tackles (2/4), completing just one of his seven attempted take ons and losing a massive 10 headed duels.

His duels figures do not read well but the biggest and most important statistic of all is the three points he won for his club that will be vital in their fight against relegation.