Raúl Jiménez kicks off five-star Fulham’s goal rush against West Ham
Something magical must have happened in this part of south-west London during last month’s international break. At that point – in what must feel like a different era for Fulham fans – Marco Silva’s side had scored just 10 goals in their opening 12 Premier League fixtures and were trying their hardest not to look worriedly down.
Four games later they have turned the division’s goalscoring dud into a lethal marksman, bloodied the noses of some teams with lofty aspirations, and found the net a scarcely conceivable 16 times.
After what Silva had described as one of the toughest pre-seasons of his career, Fulham have belatedly sprung to life in spectacular fashion.
If the 5-0 on Wednesday carried the caveat that it came against lowly Nottingham Forest, this same remarkable scoreline four days later warranted no asterisk. It was, Silva said, “a much more complete performance” than that previous mauling.
So much so that the staircases in the away end swelled after only an hour, filled with West Ham supporters making an early escape back across London, the joy from their 2-1 victory against Tottenham three days earlier painfully short-lived.
David Moyes – completing his post-game media duties with the kind of ruthless haste lacking from his players – suggested his team’s exertions in that win had taken their toll. “We used up too much energy in midweek,” he said. “We weren’t able to get ourselves back. Another Thursday fixture, Fulham had a Wednesday fixture. No excuse for the result but it played a part in it. It is disappointing, but we’ve had two difficult away games this week – three points from the two games is not a bad return.”
Although accustomed to ceding possession under Moyes, an all-toobrief bright West Ham start had faded rapidly to gloom as they were quickly outplayed in all areas.
Fulham’s opener continued the unlikely resurgence of Raúl Jiménez, who has now consigned to history a run of 33 goalless Premier League games by scoring four in his past five matches. This one came courtesy of a powerful header to finish a lethal João Palhinha whipped cross.
The hosts had two more before half-time. Palhinha was again the provider for Fulham’s second, fizzing the ball across the six-yard box where Willian calmly curled it into the bottom corner. Tosin Adarabioyo then added a thunderous headed third from Andreas Pereira’s corner.
Fifteen minutes into the second half, the substitute Harry Wilson extinguished any West Ham comeback hopes when he curled the ball expertly into the top corner from range with a lethal mixture of precision and power that he will find hard to replicate.
With daylight fading, the visitors saved their worst until last. Undone by nothing more than a straight long ball, the West Ham defence were entirely absent as Wilson bore down on Fabianski’s goal and knocked the ball to his fellow substitute Carlos Vinícius in support, who tapped into an empty net.
“A brilliant performance from us,” was Silva’s verdict. “A great win at a very good level. No doubt we were the best team on the pitch, not just because we won 5-0 but the way we performed. The way we were solid as a team, to express ourselves, to create chances to score goals, the way we did it was an almost perfect afternoon for us.
“We didn’t give almost nothing for them. We controlled it well. It’s not easy to control a team like West Ham, with the quality they have.”
Asked what had prompted Fulham’s remarkable recent turnaround, he said: “Confidence builds confidence, the best example is Raúl. But we are not doing anything really different. The trust in our players was always there. The process is not something new or from the last four games – it’s from the day I joined this football club. We are always trying to improve things and we did it really well the last two games. We are growing as a team.”
The win puts Fulham in the top half of the table for the first time this season, just one spot behind West Ham.
The visitors had reaped all the benefits of Moyes’s cautious approach in the win at Spurs, defending stoutly and capitalising on their rare chances. But despite a run of six games without defeat before this, results have not been enough to prevent criticism of the drab style. This defeat will only add to the growing voices of dissent.
When Saïd Benrahma almost cleared the Putney End stand late on with a wild blaze from range the visitors’ humiliation was complete on a day to forget.