Fulham 0-1 West Ham
Over the years I have watched many tussles between Fulham and West Ham. Thrilling victories, heavy defeats - there was always a lot to discuss.
Last Saturday's match provided little excitement and even less to write about so I turned to Yahoo for assistance. There I found four questions which (according to Yahoo) people were asking about the game. They appeared to be the work of a confused robot who also supplied the answers.
Question 1: Why did West Ham beat Fulham?
Apparently they wanted to ease their relegation fears and the pressure on boss David Moyes. I imagine that another motivation was to compensate the fans for the heavy home defeat by Newcastle just three days previously.
Question 2: What time is Fulham vs West Ham?
The match started at 3pm British Summer Time. Any viewers in other zones who missed part of the action should not feel too bad about it.
Question 3: Who won West Ham United's first away win since August?
Sometimes University Challenge throws up a question so simple that no-one dares to respond, fearing a hidden catch. After checking a number of sources I can confirm that the East London side were the victors.
Question 4: How did West Ham beat Fulham?
This needs more analysis. Marco Silva, banished from the touchline to the heights of the new stand, had persevered with Carlos Vinicius as leader of the attack. The Brazilian, whatever his merits, seemed unlikely to make an impact in a London derby but in truth no-one really caught the eye in the first twenty minutes apart from those who lost their footing on the slippery turf.
Even with seven weeks remaining there was an end of season feel. The Hammersmith End emitted less noise than usual and the song describing Silva as a genius rather fizzled out. Sympathy for the manager is in short supply just now.
In the 23rd minute a Declan Rice freekick released Vladimir Coufal on the Hammers' right wing. Despite Antonee Robinson's efforts Coufal found Jarrod Bowen, whose centre was diverted past Bernd Leno by a luckless Harrison Reed. Had Silva been closer to the action he would have been incandescent because the assistant referee failed to spot Coufal's handball in the build-up. Robinson almost equalized with one of his cracking shots but the ball flew over the bar.
Silva's halftime talk and the subsequent introduction of Tom Cairney and Manor Solomon injected some life into Fulham's faltering attack. Vinicius provided Andreas Pereira with a scoring opportunity that was easily foiled by Lukasz Fabianski. When the Hammersmith Enders found their voices the visiting fans chorused, 'It's nice to know you're here' but the East London good humour vanished when the manager substituted the popular Danny Ings.
With no real sign of a goal Fulham's Welsh players Harry Wilson and Dan James were given their usual last-minute summons. Tosin rose to meet Wilson's well-placed corner but Fabianski saved with ease. It was one of the home side's eleven corners that came to nothing despite the six foot three inches of Carlos Vinicius. Before the close the Hammers could have doubled their lead if Maxwel Cornet had passed to Said Benrahma instead of shooting.
For the home fans the match was another let-down but most of them stayed to cheer the players at the close. Hey that's around 550 words. Thanks, Yahoo.
The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and unless specifically stated are not necessarily those of Hammersmith & Fulham Council.
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