Manu Lanzini was seen as the quality player to unlock Palace’s dour defence this afternoon. Instead he had a quiet 90 minutes and here PlayerWatch reporter Danny Leach reveals his main contributions.
27 – Whips a corner in which Ogbonna just misses and the potential attack fades away
45 – Anderson beautifully lays the ball off to Lanzini in the centre of the box who shoots wide of the right post
53 – GOAL – 1-0 – Prior to Haller’s goal we were treated with some beautiful quick passing in the build up with Lanzini, Noble, Cresswell and Anderson at the heart of it
67 – Substituted for Pablo Fornals
Verdict – 6 – It was a largely quiet game for Lanzini’s standards today as he buzzed around a lot without making the desired impact. He was frequently involved in building up the Hammers attack but he couldn’t engineer as many chances of which we know he is capable. He should have at the very least put his shot on target shot the ball on target in the first half after having a lot of time on the ball when Anderson laid it off to him.
I think the ratings given have been far too generous except in the case of Roberto, feared to be the weak link but who rose to the occasion but was let down by those in front of him. Haller, who is the man everyone should be striving to get the ball to, was once again, left latgely marooned up front. A poor team performance almost humiliating @ home against inferior opposition