West Ham United 3-0 Crystal Palace

Andy Carroll, who had an excellent all-round game, scores with a stunning mid-air volley

Andy Carroll scored with a stunning volley as West Ham beat Crystal Palace at London Stadium.

The 28-year-old met Michail Antonio's cross in mid-air to hit a left-footed effort that tore past Eagles keeper Wayne Hennessey to make it 2-0.

Sofiane Feghouli had put the hosts ahead from close range earlier in the second half for his first Premier League goal.

Manuel Lanzini sealed victory late on with a sublime chip over the advancing Hennessey to leave Palace boss Sam Allardyce still searching for his first win.

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The result moved West Ham up into 12th place, while Palace only stay out of the relegation zone on goal difference.

Palace had looked comfortable in the first half, but they did not force West Ham keeper Darren Randolph into making a meaningful save until the dying minutes of the match.

'My best goal' - Carroll

Carroll admitted afterwards that he had tried something similar to his brilliant goal in training during the week, but that his effort had hit the post that time.

The old adage about never leaving your best on the training ground seems apt here.

Carroll told BBC Sport: "It's been a while in the making - I've been trying for a couple of years. It's got to be the best goal I've scored."

Andy Carroll, on the ground on the right of this photo, grabbed his third goal of the season.

Carroll's attempts at scissor kicks in practice had left manager Slaven Bilic more than a little worried.

"With his history of injuries I go a bit crazy when he does that in training because you don't want him to get hurt," admitted the West Ham coach, while his Palace counterpart had nothing but admiration for the goal and its execution.

"It's a terrific finish from Andy Carroll and he's always had that in his locker," said Allardyce. "The volley was outstanding."

The goal also impressed Chris Sutton and Martin Keown on BBC's Final Score, with former striker Sutton describing it as a "contender for goal of the season."

Keown compared Carroll's effort favourably with Olivier Giroud's 'scorpion' goal, also scored against Palace.

"There's a lot of instinct involved, but he knows what he's doing. Is it better than Giroud's scorpion? There was an element of chance with Giroud but Carroll knows exactly what he's doing," he said.

Match of the Day pundit Ian Wright, who played for both West Ham and Palace, said: "The Carroll goal was as good as I've seen - better contact than Wayne Rooney's against Man City (in 2011)."

Bilic's tweak puts Payet out of the picture

Much of the build-up to this match had revolved around West Ham's Dimitri Payet, who manager Slaven Bilic had revealed "does not want to play" for the club any more.

Bilic omitted the French midfielder from his matchday squad altogether, and his side looked to be lacking the kind of spark needed to break down a resilient Palace defence.

Carroll (9) was involved earlier in the move that ended with his brilliant goal from a scissor kick

But a tactical switch from the Hammers boss, which saw Sam Byram replace Angelo Ogbonna at half-time, reaped dividends with a host of chances coming thanks to the rejigged four-at-the-back formation.

Antonio menaced the Palace backline throughout the second half, and Lanzini popped up where Payet may have been had he played, but the errant midfielder will have slipped out of many minds following this fine second-half display by Bilic's side.

Problems for Palace

Allardyce had to deal with speculation over Christian Benteke's future prior to the game, stating that the Belgian international was "not for sale" and had a "big part to play" following rumours that the 26-year-old could leave a mere five months after he moved to Selhurst Park.

The striker made his presence felt, catching West Ham defender James Collins with his arm in the first half, and could have put his side ahead if their best chance had fallen to him rather than James Tomkins.

The ex-West Ham player stabbed the ball across the goal rather than on target from close range in what turned out to be the closest the Eagles came to scoring.

The south London side, who have now gone seven games without a win and are level on points with Hull City, look in need of fresh blood during the current transfer window.

Man of the match - Andy Carroll

Andy Carroll had had an excellent all-round game and was in contention for the man of the match award anyway, but his stunning goal put that beyond all doubt

'Let's talk about who did play today instead'

West Ham manager Slaven Bilic: "Payet is a great player so you are losing quality, but the team showed it is about the team and not individuals. This is a great example for that.

"So let's talk about Carroll, or Darren Randolph, or Mark Noble. Michail Antonio had flu and a temperature of 38.4C last night. He showed brilliant determination, brilliant quality. That's what I want to talk about."

West Ham vice-chairman Karren Brady also paid tribute to Michail Antonio following his bout of illness

Crystal Palace manager Sam Allardyce: "We don't have the capability to make sure we don't lose. That's the first thing to put right at a struggling club and at the moment we don't know how to get that result.

"Today after 70 minutes we didn't look in any real trouble, but once we gifted them the first goal we lost our shape and our discipline.

What happens next?

West Ham travel to Middlesbrough on Saturday, 21 January at 15:00 GMT, while Palace have two games in the next week. They replay Bolton Wanderers at home in the third round of the FA Cup on Tuesday, 17 January at 20:00, then host Everton next Saturday at 15:00.

Antonio is Mr Assist - the stats you need

• Michail Antonio is the first West Ham player to provide three assists in a Premier League game since Paolo Di Canio vs Coventry in April 2000.

• Crystal Palace lost their fifth consecutive Premier League London derby, equalling their worst such run in the competition (five games, last done in March 1998).

• Andy Carroll has scored five goals in his last three home Premier League London derbies for West Ham.

• Manuel Lanzini has scored a goal in each of his four Premier League appearances against Crystal Palace; double the amount he's scored against any other Premier League club.

• Antonio has been directly involved in more Premier League goals than any other West Ham player this season - 11 (8 goals, 3 assists).

• Indeed, Antonio recorded his first Premier League assists since April 2016 (v Arsenal) and it's the first time he has bagged three in an English league game.