Premier League: Fulham Takes Down West Ham 2-0
West Ham’s aspirations for European participation took a hit for the second time in four days following a humble 2-0 loss at home to Fulham. Earlier, West Ham tasted defeat at the hands of Bundesliga frontrunners Bayer Leverkusen, with a scoreline of 2-0, in the opening leg of their Europa League quarter-final encounter. This loss leaves them with challenging odds in the subsequent match.
Their opportunity to move to sixth position in the Premier League and therefore reclaim their stakes in European contention was thwarted after Fulham clinched their maiden triumph in four matches with two decisive goals by Andreas Pereira. Fulham’s victory over West Ham, the first on away ground since 2001, coupled with a 5-0 crushing victory in December’s reverse fixture, marked the first time they attained a league double over their city competitors since 1966.
Based on this lacklustre performance, Bayer Leverkusen will not be overly concerned. In the opening moments, West Ham missed a golden opportunity to go in front when a through ball from Lucas Paqueta found right back Vladimir Coufal in a potent position. Goalkeeper Bernd Leno blocked his first effort, and Michail Antonio then blasted the rebounding ball above the bar from eight yards.
Despite their promising start, West Ham ceded their first goal to Fulham only nine minutes into the game, leaving manager David Moyes exasperated. Konstantinos Mavropanos attempted to intercept a long pass from Alex Iwobi but only managed to serve the ball to Pereira, who was given a clear path due to Nayef Aguerd’s oversight. The consequent tap-in past Hammers’ goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski was routine for the Brazilian.
There was almost a duplicate goal from Pereira, courtesy of Willian’s inviting cross, but his attempt went wide. Coufal, who joined West Ham three and a half years ago, demonstrated his goal-scoring drought when he wastefully hit a promising chance wide from Paqueta’s cross.
Fabianski managed a critical save after halftime, deflecting a shot from Iwobi, though he couldn’t stop Pereira from scoring a second goal at the 72-minute mark. Midfielder Paqueta lost possession to Joao Palhinha who subsequently passed the ball to Rodrigo Muniz. Muniz then set up Iwobi who sprinted forward, crossing over to Pereira for an uncomplicated goal.
The Hammers’ painful loss was compounded when rookie substitute George Earthy collided with team-mate Edson Alvarez, causing a severe head injury. Earthy had to be removed from the field on a stretcher just two minutes into his debut Premier League match.