LONDON (AP) — West Ham drew at Crystal Palace 0-0 on Monday, gaining an important point in its fight to avoid relegation and ensuring the demise of the Premier League’s bottom club Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Wolves cannot amass enough points in its last five games to avoid the drop and will return to the Championship for the first time since 2018.
Relegation looked inevitable for the Midlands club for most of a woeful season but even a string of more encouraging performances over the last couple of months could not save it.
The end came far from home in a listless match in south London.
West Ham had the better of the opening exchanges but the scoreline remained goalless at halftime. Although Palace perked up in the second half it did not create many chances and neither goalkeeper was very busy.
The point was nevertheless welcomed by the Hammers, who moved two clear of Tottenham Hotspur in 18th place.
“A point at the end of the day isn’t the worst thing in the world,” captain Jarrod Bowen said.
“We’re trying to keep West Ham in the Premier League. We can’t rely on anyone else, we need to look at ourselves and keep fighting to stay in the Premier League.”
Palace, which has won only three of its last 26 Monday night games in the Premier League, remained in 13th.
Goalkeeper Dean Henderson’s shutout was Palace’s 12th clean sheet of the season, a record bettered only by the top two Arsenal and Manchester City.
“(That record) is an unbelievable return for our league position,” Henderson said. “The defensive unit is so good, anyone who steps in has been excellent. That’s the foundations we’ve built and hopefully add some goals at the other end.”
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