Fulham 0-1 West Ham (C.Summerville 65′)
Fulham captain Tom Cairney spoke convincingly about the club’s push for European qualification in the match programme notes, describing a “real hunger in the dressing room” to deliver it to Craven Cottage for the first time since 2012-13.
They knew that a win against 18th-placed West Ham would lift them level on points with Everton in eighth and just a point behind seventh-placed Brentford. Buoyed by three wins in a row in all competitions, there was a real sense of optimism heading into Wednesday night’s London derby.
But Cairney also described the challenges of facing a side in the bottom three; “When teams are scrapping at the bottom, they become dangerous. You get intensity, desperation, and nothing to lose.”
After a miserable start to life in East London, Nuno has finally got a tune out of his side in recent weeks. They seemed dead and buried not too long ago, but their gritty win at Craven Cottage demonstrated how they’ve given themselves a shot at staying up; Crysencio Summerville punishing a Fulham error that proved enough to secure all three points.
After Nottingham Forest’s draw at Manchester City, the Hammers are just a point behind the Midlands side – and rivals Tottenham – but remain in the drop zone.
Silva made four changes to the starting XI, but the most notable aspect of the squad list was the omission of top scorer Harry Wilson. The Welsh international has notched 17 goal contributions in all competitions, but hurt his ankle during Fulham’s win against Spurs last time out, ruling him out of this midweek clash.
And as a blunt Fulham struggled against the Irons’ resolute defence, Wilson’s absence was glaring, his ability to produce a moment of magic out of nothing sorely missed.
Despite having a penalty overturned in the second half, Fulham cannot complain about the result – they were sloppy in possession, easy to play through, and unable to carve out opportunities.
It only took 30 seconds for West Ham to get their first effort at goal as Valentín Castellanos’ bending strike was saved by Leno.
Each side had a couple of speculative attempts in the opening exchanges, but neither could seize control of the contest, with unenforced errors and sloppy passes rife. Jarrod Bowen came close on a couple of occasions.
Josh King was the brightest spark in a dull Fulham attack in the first half, playing in the front foot, drawing fouls and causing headaches for the Hammers’ defenders.
In the final act of the opening 45 minutes, King executed a delightful first touch to nick past his marker in the box, but his shot was saved by Mads Hermansen.
Just like the first half, the visitors had a chance in the opening seconds of the second after Fulham conceded a corner almost immediately, Tomáš Souček winning his header and forcing Leno to tip over.
Early in the second half, Tom Cairney received a cutback in the box and collided with Castellanos as he shot, which the referee deemed a penalty.
However, after an on-field VAR review, Cairney was adjudged to have fouled the West Ham striker; the replay showed the Fulham captain had kicked his opponent.
West Ham continued to probe and were eventually rewarded in the 65th minute.
Befitting of a disjointed Fulham performance riddled with errors, Leno was the culprit this time, rushing off his line and miscommunicating with Calvin Bassey, allowing Summerville to pounce and bend a shot into an empty net.
Despite the trio of Oscar Bobb, Emile Smith Rowe and Rodrigo Muniz introduced from the bench to inject firepower and creativity, the Whites never looked convincing in front of goal. Timothy Castagne came the closest with two minutes to play, striking from the edge of the box and forcing a fine save from Hermansen at full stretch.