Staff Reporter.
Crystal Palace climbed into the top half of the Premier League after easing to victory against Norwich at Selhurst Park.
Three first-half goals from Odsonne Edouard, Jean-Philippe Mateta and Jeffrey Schlupp condemned the Canaries to the foot of the table at the end of 2021.
The visitors started brightly but found themselves a goal down after eight minutes when Kenny McLean fouled Will Hughes in the area and Edouard converted from the spot for his first goal since October.
Palace took charge from there with Hughes their driving force. He sprung forward and slipped in Mateta, who could only find the side-netting.
Mateta made it 2-0 with his first goal of the season seven minutes before half-time. Edouard pulled out to the left and played in a low cross that Mateta placed past Angus Gunn with superb precision.
Just seconds earlier, Jacob Sorensen squandered a superb chance for Norwich at the other end, and four minutes later, Schlupp added a third with a powerful finish from a tight angle.
Sam Byram clipped the top of the crossbar with a header in stoppage time, but Norwich’s defensive issues had already given them a mountain to climb.
Gunn did his best to keep the score down with an excellent double save to deny Schlupp and then Mateta in the second half, while Vicente Guaita was forced into rare action by a Przemyslaw Placheta strike.
Meanwhile Southampton put on a show of resilience in holding Tottenham to a draw despite playing with 10 men for over 50 minutes at St Mary’s.
Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side started admirably when James Ward-Prowse cut across a bouncing ball to volley a swerving shot past Hugo Lloris for a superb opener.
But Saints looked to have undone their fine work when Mohammed Salisu fouled Son Heung-min in the box to earn a second booking in 12 first-half minutes and allow Harry Kane to score from the penalty spot.
Spurs twice had the ball in the net after the break, with Kane seeing a strike ruled out by VAR for a narrow offside and Southampton goalkeeper Fraser Forster spared own-goal blushes when it was judged he was fouled by Matt Doherty.
Spurs may feel aggrieved by the decision on Forster’s foul, but in truth they did not do enough after the break to pull and stretch a patched-up Saints back four, who repeatedly limited the visitors to crosses from wide areas.
The point means Antonio Conte has become the first manager in Spurs’ history to be unbeaten in his first seven league games, but he will likely have expected more after Salisu’s red card.
Elsewhere West Ham ended their recent run of poor form by coming from behind to overwhelm struggling Watford at Vicarage Road.
The Hammers had gone into the game with just one win in seven games – a run that had seen them seemingly slip out of top-four contention.
It looked like the slump was going to continue when Emmanuel Dennis knocked the ball past Craig Dawson in the fourth minute before firing a superb strike into the top corner.
West Ham initially struggled to impose themselves but improved as the half wore on and then shocked the Hornets with two goals in two minutes.
First, Jarrod Bowen picked out Tomas Soucek and the midfielder equalised in the 27th minute with a first-time finish before Said Benrahma put the visitors ahead with a deflected strike.
West Ham ensured there was no way back for the hosts when Mark Noble converted a second-half penalty, awarded after a VAR review for a foul on Bowen inside the box.
The excellent Bowen was again involved as the visitors sealed the success in injury time, cutting the ball back for Nikola Vlasic to side-foot home his first goal for the club.
Victory means David Moyes’ side move up to fifth in the Premier League, four points off the top four, while Watford – who were booed off at full time – are 17th and two points outside of the relegation zone following a third successive home defeat.