Joe Ellis

Sun 9 October 2022 15:53, UK

West Ham United picked up back-to-back Premier League wins as they earned a comeback 3-1 win at home to Fulham on Sunday (9 October).

Andreas Pereira got the Cottagers off to the perfect start with a precise left-footed finish after just five minutes but he then conceded a penalty after 26 minutes which Jarrod Bowen duly slotted home.

Gianluca Scamacca then completed the turnaround in the second half, wonderfully controlling a lofted pass before chipping Bernd Leno from the edge of the area.

A calamitous moment at the back for Fulham then gifted substitute Michail Antonio an open goal tap-in to wrap up all three points on home soil.

Lukasz Fabianski – 4

The Polish international should be bitterly disappointed with himself for the opening goal which had no right to ripple the net from such a tight angle. He had little to do after that to stretch him but David Moyes will feel let down by his number one.

Thilo Kehrer – 6

For a player who is by no means a natural right-back, Kehrer doesn’t let that bring his performance down at all. He was just as good going forward as he was in defence and with a bit more attacking intent, he may have pulled the trigger in the first half and got a shot on goal.

Craig Dawson – 7

Dawson versus Pereira was not the individual battle anybody was expecting at the London Stadium and the West Ham man won out by a margin. His presence was enough to scare the Brazilian into giving away a penalty before he nailed the Fulham man late in the 1st half without giving away a free-kick somehow.

Kurt Zouma – 7

Zouma, like his central defensive partner, had a tough battle on his hands against Carlos Vinicius but he offered little threat to West Ham in the grand scheme of things. The physical power of the Frenchman saw him remain a very strong wall to get past all afternoon for Marco Silva’s side.

Aaron Cresswell – 5

It’s not often that Cresswell is this anonymous in a game but there really was not much to be seen of the 32-year-old with most of the Fulham attacks aimed at Kehrer’s right-hand side. He did make one very good block in the second half but there can’t have been many other touches for him.

Declan Rice – 6

Fulham’s midfield is not one of the toughest Rice and Soucek will ever come up against and it was therefore a reasonably comfortable day for the captain. There was not much spectacular to make him grab the headlines but solid enough in the heart of the team.

Tomas Soucek – 6

Much like his midfield counterpart, there was not much for Soucek to shout about overall in what was a very level-headed display in protecting the back four. There was not the typical marauding runs that he has become known for with the Hammers defending from Fulham late on.

Jarrod Bowen – 7

The Irons seems to have a new designated penalty taker in Bowen who took the ball over Rice when Pereira hauled Dawson to the ground and it was as cool as ice from the Englishman. He didn’t have the run on Antonee Robinson as much as he would have liked but there were still moments from him.

Lucas Paqueta – 5

£50million looks like way too much money for a player who does so little against Fulham. Paqueta is not adapting to the Premier League as quickly as Moyes would have liked even if there was the odd fancy flick and trick that won’t have worried the Cottagers at all.

Pablo Fornals – 4

The Spaniard is just not good enough anymore and especially when he is playing as a winger. There is no speed or agility to his game to cause problems for opposition defenders so he has to rely on a mistake or clever movement to get room and he doesn’t have the football brain for that.

Gianluca Scamacca – 8

It was a tough day for Scamacca but he remained patient and positive with his play up against a physical backline and got his just rewards in the second half to fabulously lob Leno to make it 2-1, He doesn’t have to be incredible every game to be effective, thankfully.

Substitutes:

Michail Antonio (on for Scamacca 80′) – 6

Emerson Palmieri (on for Paqueta 84′) – 5

Flynn Downes (on for Fornals 90+2′) – N/A