Emmanuel Omoyimni rescued a vital point for West Ham with his first ever goals for the club in a six-goal thriller at Selhurst Park.

The Hammers' European hopes appeared to be in tatters just two minutes from time after goals from Marcus Bent, Simon Rodger and Attilio Lombardo.

But Omoyimni, on as a second half substitute, produced two clinical pieces of finishing to salvage a game that West Ham should have won.

Harry Redknapp's side can still qualify for a UEFA Cup place but they now need a win over Leicester in the last game of the season and rely on results going their way.

And they would only have had themselves to blame if they had lost a highly entertaining game after dominating the first half at Selhurst Park.

The Hammers took the lead after four minutes thanks to a Sasa Curcic's own goal but failed to take several other chances and were pegged back by Marcus Bent's lob just before half-time.

Rodger and Lombardo put Palace 3-1 ahead before Omoyimni's deadly double to stop Palace claiming only their second home League win of the season.

With both teams conceding five goals at the weekend goals were always on the cards and the 19,219 crowd were not to be disappointed.

Injury-ravaged West Ham were forced to field an unfamiliar line-up with Steve Lomas at right-back and Stan Lazaridis left-back with Rio Ferdinand out injured.

But it did them no harm in the early stages and they took the lead after just four minutes.

Berkovic and Lampard sliced the home defence wide open with a neat 1-2 and as Lampard raced through on goal Curcic made a last-ditch sliding challenge only to see his touch take the ball past his own goalkeeper and into the empty net.

It was harsh on the former Aston Villa midfielder who has been a rare success for Palace during his brief spell and he tried to make instant amends with a freekick which he placed too close to Bernard Lama after 11 minutes.

The Hammers could have put the game beyond Palace in the first half as the home side committed a comedy of errors to leave themselves wide open to the visitor's quick counter-attacks.

Berkovic's delightful chip beat the offside trap to put Samassi Abou in on the edge of the area but Palace were let off when Abou lost his footing and Miller was able to clear.

Paul Kitson volleyed spectacularly over from Lazaridis' cross and Berkovic's goalbound shot was deflected wide somewhat fortunately by Simon Rodger who knew very little about it.

Palace were then forced to make a change when Valerien Ismael was stretchered off with a serious leg injury to be replaced by Jamie Smith.

Neil Shipperley went close with a clever header from Dean Gordon's cross before Bent struck against the run of play to score his fourth goal in five games.

There appeared little danger when he picked up Lombardo's ball 25 yards out after 43 minutes but he advanced five yards before spotting Lama off his line.

The French keeper back-pedalled quickly and got his right hand to the ball but could not prevent it crossing the line.

The momentum appeared to have swung to Palace and they caught West Ham cold just two minutes after the interval.

Curcic's corner - the home side's first of the game - was only partially cleared and fell to Simon Rodger on the edge of the area, who hit a first-time left foot volley through a crowded area past Lama.

The game was flowing from end to end as West Ham sought a precious equaliser, Shipperley making a last-ditch tackle in his own area on Abou and Sinclair flashing a volley just over.

Lomas then had to copy Shipperley's tackle to deny the former Southampton striker before Palace stretched their advantage.

Lombardo raced on to Gordon's through ball and although his control took him wide he slid a left foot shot past Lama to make it 3-1 after 63 minutes.

But West Ham clearly knew the importance of the game and reduced the deficit just four minutes later.

Sinclair was going nowhere despite some neat tricks on the edge of the area but as the defence stood off he fed substitute Emmanuel Omoyimni who slotted his first goal for the club into the far corner.

There still looked more goals in the game, Lampard's drive thumped the cross bar, Lama did well to hold Lombardo's stinging shot and Unsworth blocked Bent goalbound effort.

West Ham in fact had the ball in the net but Berkovic's header was ruled out for offside before finding a priceless equaliser.

Lomas pulled the ball back from the byline and Omoyimni had time to gather himself before finding the far corner again past Miller.

Crystal Palace: Miller, Edworthy, Gordon, Curcic (Fullarton 76), Lombardo, Warhurst, Shipperley, Rodger, Bent, Ismael (Smith 34), Hreidarsson.

Subs Not Used: Nash, McKenzie, Folan.

Goals: Bent 44, Rodger 48, Lombardo 63.

West Ham: Lama, Unsworth, Sinclair, Kitson, Lomas, Lazaridis, Lampard, Pearce, Impey, Abou (Omoyimni 59), Berkovic.

Subs Not Used: Forrest, Mean, Berthe, Coyne.

Sent Off: Unsworth (88).

Booked: Abou, Lomas, Lampard, Unsworth.

Goals: Curcic 4 og, Omoyimni 68, 89.

Att: 19,129

Ref: G Poll (Tring).