West Ham drew 0-0 with Crystal Palace on Monday night to stay two points clear of the relegation zone.

It was a cagey affair at Selhurst Park. Both teams still have something to play for in the league this season, and neither side wanted to make a mistake. However, West Ham impressed in the first 45, putting together some good moves, particularly down the left-hand side.

Taty Castellanos had a chance that went wayward before Jarrod Bowen slipped through Crysencio Summerville, whose shot inside the box was well blocked by Chris Richards.

The Irons were pressing well from the front, with Taty and Pablo at the heart of a hard-working front line. Taty’s hard work almost paid off when he caught a clean bicycle kick inside the box. But the effort was denied by a crucial block from Palace’s Maxence Lacroix.

West Ham’s best chance of the game came on the stroke of half-time. El Hadji Malick Diouf put in a wonderful teasing cross that was met by Konstantinos Mavropanos. The big Greek almost scored his fourth goal in as many games, but his powerful header was sharply saved by Dean Henderson. The sides went in level at the break.

The Hammers looked the better side in the first half, but Oliver Glasner‘s side improved after the break. Yeremy Pino was asking questions of the Irons defence, as was Jean-Philippe Mateta after his introduction.

Nuno Espírito Santo‘s side were limited to half-chances. Bowen and Castellanos both had openings, but nothing to genuinely threaten the Palace goal. Instead, it was the hosts applying the pressure on their opponents.

The Eagles kept pushing, and on 82 minutes, it looked like they had opened the scoring. The West Ham defenders failed to deal with a high ball, which fell to Ismaïla Sarr. The Senegalese fired the ball home from close range, but a handball by Mateta in the build-up saw the goal disallowed.

West Ham held out for a draw, maintaining a two-point gap between themselves and 18th-placed Tottenham Hotspur. It was a rather frustrating encounter for Nuno’s side, but they lose no ground on Roberto De Zerbi‘s team going into next weekend.

Additionally, it’s back-to-back clean sheets for the Irons and Mads Hermansen. Even when they have lacked potency in attack recently, West Ham have looked solid in defence.

Another all-important encounter next Saturday, as David Moyes makes his London Stadium return when the Irons take on Everton. The Toffees are in the hunt for European football, but hopefully West Ham will continue their strong home form to stay ahead in this nervewracking relegation battle.