Fulham 5-0 West Ham
There was no fluke about Fulham's demolition of Nottingham Forest. But we had to wonder how the Whites would fare when West Ham visited the Cottage at the weekend.
We know now that they fared extremely well, with a repeat performance of five goals without reply – and what splendid goals they were.
Like Forest, the Hammers showed purpose at the start. A foul by Joao Palhinha allowed James Ward-Prowse a long-range free kick. With no defensive wall, Bernd Leno had a clear view and made an acrobatic save.
I realised at that time that I too had an uncluttered viewpoint. For the second successive match, a fair number of season-ticket holders were unable to attend or were delayed by transport problems. They have my sympathy. They missed the performances that we have been waiting for since the departure of Mitrovic.
With the visiting supporters in raucous voice, Jarrod Bowen was the next to test Leno. However after that, Fulham took full control of the midfield.
A fierce interception by Palhinha led to a swirling cross that Raul Jimenez neatly headed into the net watched by Aaron Cresswell and his fellow defenders. The Mexican then combined with Willian to set up Alex Iwobi. Lukasz Fabianski pushed away Iwobi's shot but was then unable to prevent Willian from converting Andreas Pereira's precise centre.
After Leno made another important save, Iwobi won a corner which Tosin headed past the West Ham keeper. Fulham led by three clear goals at the interval, all scored at the Putney End. The Hammersmith Enders expected a closeup of two more at the very least.
Second half
In the second half, Harry Wilson came on as substitute and caused more distress to the visiting defenders. Around the hour mark the Welshman scored arguably the best goal of the evening. Tom Cairney spotted him unmarked on the edge of the penalty area and Harry found the far top corner of the goal with his marvellous left-foot.
West Ham heard the home fans singing 'Champions of Europe? You're having a laugh' and tried to salvage some pride, sending on various players including Said Benrahma, but this made the defence even flimsier. Harrison Reed punted the forward to give Wilson a clear run on goal and the unselfish forward allowed Carlos Vinicius the final touch.
The referee Paul Tierney had a quiet word with the Brazilian, possibly saying 'See, hitting the ball is better than hitting your opponent'.
Anyway, the game was immaculately officiated with no embarrassing pauses for VAR. Tom Cairney deserved his Man of the Match award, but it was a great team performance with no passengers.
Maybe it wasn't kidology the other week when Jurgen Klopp warned his team about Jimenez, Willian and Vinicius...
A view of the cottage
More than 25 years ago, Chris Beetles brought together a host of pictures for a wealthy football-loving client.
As curator of 'Football – The Art Collection', the Chris Beetles Gallery has in recent years displayed some of the choice pieces. These annual shows have always proved a real treat.
This week (alas) the entire collection was auctioned at Bonhams.
Chris Beetles himself kindly gave me advance notice of the sale because he knew how much I enjoyed the contents, especially the painting entitled Craven Cottage.
It is by the little-known Hammersmith artist Michael Critchlow, and it gives a bird's eye view of the Fulham pitch through the tunnel between the Cottage and the Stevenage Road stand. A packed riverside terrace is watching a rather half-hearted Fulham attack.
Every time I see this picture I am cast back to the ground as I knew it in the 1940s and 1950s. Mr Critchlow was born in 1904 and died in 1972. Sadly, his masterwork is unlikely to adorn my walls as the reserve price was £15,000, making it one of the most expensive items.
Two more familiar local names – Carel Weight and Ruskin Spear – also featured in the collection. You can (if you wish) see in the Museum of London Carel Weight's extraordinary painting of a murder in nearby Bishops Park Avenue.
His football offering here also has strange overtones – the players seem to be striking individual attitudes unrelated to each other or to the ball and the open Hammersmith End belongs to a vaster arena.
Ruskin Spear's drawing of the Cottage as seen from Finlay Street made a superb cover for 'Fulham Facts and Figures 1879-1998' by Dennis Turner and Alex White.
Of the three Ruskin Spear's works in the collection two may relate to Fulham. 'The Goalkeeper' is beaten by a striker in black and white kit and the 1982 'Football Match' features players in white shirts with black collars.
In addition, there is a charming statuette of Bobby Moore. At the time of writing although the auction went well these five items all failed to reach their reserve. What are my chances of a tidy Premium Bond win in January?
The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and unless specifically stated are not necessarily those of Hammersmith & Fulham Council.
