Feisty Fulham thrash West Ham with first-half Craven Cottage blitz
Given that West Ham had won three of their last four PL games prior to this afternoon, it was little surprise to see them fly out of the traps, and they were unlucky not to take an early lead when James Ward-Prowse’s 35-yard free-kick forced a fine stop from Bernd Leno.
That save from the Fulham stopper gave his side a platform to find the opener, and it looked to be an even bigger save midway through the first half when João Palhinha’s wicked delivery was guided home by the head of Raúl Jiménez.
Conceding the opener was a visible confidence drainer for West Ham, and as the hosts detected some vulnerabilities, they pushed for a second.
The Cottagers duly doubled their lead shortly after the half-hour mark, when after Alex Iwobi’s initial effort was saved, Andreas Pereira recycled the rebound and Willian was on hand to fire home at the far post.
Marco Silva’s side sensed a great chance to wrap the game up before the break and they added a third through an unlikely source shortly before the break, as Tosin Adarabioyo popped up to head home his first club goal in over a year.
By no means were the hosts finished there, and sensing a chance to close in on the 5-0 scoreline they managed in midweek, Silva introduced Harry Wilson at HT.
His substitution paid dividends almost instantly too, as the Welshman stepped in off the right and curled home a sensational effort into the top corner.
The game was up long before the fourth goal for the Hammers, but even in an attempt to salvage a grain of pride and send their fans home with something to shout about, West Ham couldn’t find a way through a dogged Fulham rearguard.
It was a rather chastening afternoon all round for West Ham, and particularly for their boss David Moyes, who was unbeaten in his last 13 PL H2Hs against Fulham prior to today.
He’s now tasked with quickly refocusing his side’s efforts ahead of their crunch Europa League clash against Freiburg on Thursday.
Silva will have no such issues picking his players up, if anything he’ll have to contain them after Carlos Vinícius added a fifth in the closing stages to round off what was a perfect day in which Fulham climbed into the top-half at Chelsea's expense.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Andreas Pereira (Fulham)
