Big Sam was understandably pleased as Mauro Zarate hit his first goal for the club and Stewart Downing got off the mark for the season.
“We completely controlled the game for virtually the whole 90 minutes except for when we let a sloppy goal in just after half-time,” Sam told West Ham TV.
“They had a ten-minute spell playing on their home ground, but the rest of the game belonged to us and I think the way the lads tactically controlled the game was brilliant.”
“It was fantastic to see a debutant in Mauro come in and show what he could do with a very good goal to get us underway. I was just getting a little worried at that time because we hadn’t scored, despite the level of pressure we were putting on Palace. We weren’t converting our chances.
“To come up with that quality of strike from outside the box was brilliant. Then, on top of that, Stewart’s finish was equally good, cutting in from the right and passing the ball into the bottom corner of the net. That’s what we’ve been asking him to do.”