Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
PREMIER LEAGUE THE HAND OF POD
Little Pea delivers the sucker punch to Claudio’s hopes
JUST when Claudio Ranieri thought it could not get any worse, Fulham were shafted by the Little Pea’s hand of pod.
And if Ranieri thought he could hear distant chimes on a misty night in the East end, the Bow bells were not ringing dillyding, dilly-dong for him this time.
They were tolling for Fulham as they slipped deeper into the Premier League quicksand.
But if the Emperor Claudio confounded 5,000-1 odds when he presided over Leicester’s title miracle three years ago, fortune was always hiding this time.
West Ham, sluggish and sloppy for half an hour, got lucky with Javier Hernandez’s equaliser.
Stooping to conquer at the far post, Chicharito appeared to apply the critical touch with his hand. Much as we hate VAR, and the momentum it will strip from Premier League games next season, the men in the bunker watching monitors would have sorted out fact from fraud.
Energised by their outrageous good luck, West Ham improved and ultimately deserved to win.
But the turning point was undeniably the home side’s leveller delivered by Little Pea’s sleight of hand.
Fulham fans have been unconvinced by
Ranieri’s shuffling of the pack with just one point to show from 13 London derbies, losing the last nine in a row – a new low in capital punishment.
When Ryan Babel failed to take advantage of Pablo Zabaleta’s slapdash back pass in the opening 35 seconds, shovelling a weak finish straight at Lukasz Fabianski, then Ranieri must have feared the worst. But the former Liverpool flop soon made amends, making no mistake from Ryan Sessegnon’s low cross after three minutes. It was a number-crunchers’ delight, the Dutchman’s first Premier League goal since December 2010, exactly 3,000 days earlier.
There was a glaring lack of authenticity about the Irons’ equaliser just before the half-hour. Sergio Rico flapped at a Robert Snodgrass corner, Michail Antonio and Angelo Ogbonna headed it back into the sixyard box and Hernandez appeared to steer it inside the post with the proverbial helping hand. Ranieri registered an emphatic protest with fourth official Stuart Attwell, and 3,000 visiting fans had their worst suspicions confirmed when the ‘goal’ was replayed on the jumbo screens in all its fraudulent glory. Fulham’s sense of grievance was only augmented when they fell behind five minutes before the break – but this time they had only their own negligence to blame.
The towering Issa Diop (left, celebrating) emphatically headed home another Snodgrass corner.
Hammers substitute Manuel Lanzini, making his comeback after eight months out, was given a thunderous ovation, and his fellow replacement Marko Arnautovic hit the woodwork.
But Fulham were game and competitive until Antonio headed Arnautovic’s cross in off the post bang on 90 minutes to settle all arguments.
Hammers captain Mark Noble said: “We started the match terrible. They should have scored three goals in the first 10 minutes.
“We have seen our equaliser and it has gone in off his hand.
“But we had an offside goal scored against us here a couple of weeks ago and that’s how it goes, it’s rub of the green.” SUBS:
Fredericks (Zabaleta 46) Arnautovic (Hernandez 64) Lanzini (Anderson 75) MOTM SUBS:
Anguissa (Seri 46) Markovic (Sessegnon 46) 6 6 5 6 6