A rampant Crystal Palace made it back-to-back Premier League wins for the first time this season with an astonishing 5-2 thrashing of a sorry West Ham United side at Selhurst Park.
On the back of their Europa League exit at the hands of Bayer Leverkusen, the sloppy Irons were out of the contest with just 31 minutes gone, as Michael Olise, Eberechi Eze and Jean-Philippe Mateta all found a way through alongside Emerson Palmieri's own goal.
A Michail Antonio strike provided the dumbfounded travelling fans with a slice of hope before the break, and the second period was unsurprisingly much more low-key, but Mateta's second of the afternoon restored Palace's incredible four-goal cushion, ensuring that a farcical late own goal would be meaningless in the grand scheme of things.
As Palace rejoiced in a remarkable win which lifted them up to 14th in the Premier League table above Brentford, West Ham travelled home with their heads bowed, having missed their chance to leapfrog Manchester United and Newcastle United into the European positions.
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Despite returning from a back injury in time for the Europa League in midweek, Jarrod Bowen was absent from the Irons' XI at Selhurst Park, and one would have paid a pretty penny for the Englishman's thoughts in the first half.
Indeed, a Palace side boosted by the presences of Chris Richards and Will Hughes tore the Europa Conference League champions to shreds in an early demolition job, which commenced with just seven minutes gone.
Joachim Andersen was found in an unfamiliar left-wing position on the edge of the box, but the Dane nevertheless delivered a delightful ball into Olise, who headed into an empty net as Lukasz Fabianski came for the cross and missed.
However, the Pole was powerless to prevent the other jewel in the Eagles crown notching the hosts' second in the 16th minute, as a move which began with Kurt Zouma's sloppy pass being intercepted by Richards ended with Eze firing a wonderful bicycle kick into the roof of the net after Fabianski had deflected Mateta's shot into his path.
Just four minutes later, the home end at Selhurst Park were in raptures again, and West Ham only had themselves to blame; Fabianski and Emerson inexplicably failed to cut out Hughes's cross between them, and the miscommunication saw the left-back stick a foot out and divert the ball into his own net.
Prolific Palace set new record as Moyes achieves unwanted first
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With just 20 minutes gone, Palace had never been 3-0 up so early in a Premier League fixture, and just past the half hour mark, Oliver Glasner's side astonishingly had their fourth.
Once again, West Ham lost the ball inside their own half - Mohammed Kudus was culpable this time - and a sweeping move saw Eze slip in Olise, whose ball across the box was tapped in by an unmarked Mateta.
It was all far too easy for Palace against their meek visitors, but Glasner's men were being ruthless when the chances came, and with 31 minutes gone, a team led by Moyes had never been 4-0 down so early in a Premier League game before.
A chance to restore a miniscule sense of pride came and went for Antonio in the 35th minute, as he volleyed James Ward-Prowse's free kick over the top from close range, but the striker would atone for that mistake in the 40th, sticking a leg out to prod home from Tomas Soucek's looping header.
There was barely a hint of celebration from an otherwise abysmal West Ham, who could have easily been 5-1 down at the break, but Andersen wasted a well-worked corner routine by heading over at the back post.
Half-time changes were inevitable on the West Ham end - Aaron Cresswell and Ben Johnson replaced Soucek and Angelo Ogbonna - while Adam Wharton was forced off just after the hour mark following a clash of knees with Emerson.
Unlike Arsenal's historic 7-5 win over Reading in the 2012-13 EFL Cup, Antonio's late first-half goal would not be the catalyst for an unbelievable comeback, as Palace restored their four-goal lead in the 64th minute - Eze cheekily nutmegged Zouma to find Mateta, who had enough time to adjust himself in the box and fire into the bottom corner.
The hosts could hardly be more comfortable as the clock ticked down, although Dean Henderson channelled his inner Arijanet Muric in the 89th minute to put a slight dampener on the result, allowing a bouncing Tyrick Mitchell backpass to roll under his boot and into the net.
The party mood at Selhurst Park was hardly affected, though, and Palace now bid to prolong their purple patch at home to Newcastle United on Wednesday, while the disjointed Hammers have a week off before hosting Liverpool next Saturday lunchtime.
Ben Knapton
