West Ham United enjoyed a happy start to 2022 with a 3-2 Premier League victory at Crystal Palace on New Year’s Day - with Manuel Lanzini again the Eagles' nemesis.
David Moyes’ Hammers made it back-to-back top-flight wins courtesy of three first-half goals at Selhurst Park – the seventh time in 20 Premier League matches this season we have scored three or more goals in a game – to close to within a point of the top four.
A high-paced, end-to-end game was settled by a close-range finish from Michail Antonio and two strikes from Lanzini, the first an unstoppable left-foot special from 20 yards and the second a right-foot penalty awarded after Luka Milivojević was penalised for handball.
In truth, the three-goal half-time lead flattered West Ham a little, despite Antonio and Saïd Benrahma being denied by a superb double save from Palace goalkeeper Vicente Guaita when the game was still goalless, as the Eagles created and missed a succession of presentable chances of their own.