Chicharito’s sucker punch
THE immediate replays on the London Stadium’s big screens only shovelled salt into the wounds for Claudio Ranieri, who felt Fulham were victims of a great injustice here last night.
The visitors scored within three minutes but their lead was cancelled out when Javier Hernandez applied a finish with a move that would not look out of place in beach volleyball. He dived and diverted the ball into the back of the net using his hand.
Next season, VAR would rule it out. On this occasion, referee Lee Mason missed it and Ranieri’s men wound up losing.
To tell the truth, Fulham did not deserve a lot out of this. To describe their defending here as Sunday League would do a disservice to any amateur weekend warriors out there.
This defeat moves Fulham a step closer to dropping back down to the Championship, despite their £100million spending spree in the summer. It moves Ranieri closer to the sack, too.
The Italian went into this match with the words ‘must-win’ ringing in his ears. Plenty holding microphones in front of him had used the phrase in the build-up.
For good reason, too. Fulham were the only top-flight side without an away win this season and they had leaked 58 goals before last night — 10 more than any other side.
Despite those doom-and-gloom statistics, Fulham should have taken the lead after 38 seconds. Pablo Zabaleta attempted a backpass but failed to see the bloke with bright red hair. Ryan Babel stole the ball and was left with Lukasz Fabianski to beat. He took an age and his shot was saved.
Any Fulham hands on heads were soon in the air in celebration when Babel scored with two minutes, 49 seconds on the clock. How simple it was, too.
Ryan Sessegnon crossed, no defenders got near it, and Babel tapped in for his first Premier League goal in 3,000 days. ‘ How s*** must you be? We’re winning away,’ sang the visiting supporters who had seen their side lose their last eight London derbies in succession.
They weren’t leading for long. West Ham got back into it before the half-hour mark but only via the unnoticed hand of Hernandez. A corner was whipped in and Sergio Rico made a mess of a punched clearance. The ball bounced off the heads of Michail Antonio and Ogbonna before finding Hernandez.
The Mexico striker, who was searching for his 50th Premier League goal, stuck his head out but instead used his hand to divert it in. Referee Lee Mason took no notice of the Fulham protests.
Ranieri was furious on the touchline, and rightly so. His mood worsened when another corner was whipped in and Issa Diop, surrounded by five white shirts, headed home.
Steve Holland, linked with taking over from Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri, was in the stands at the London Stadium. It just so happens that Chelsea face Fulham on March 3.
West Ham introduced Manuel Lanzini for the final 15 minutes to make his first appearance since May 2018 and he played a part in their third goal. After Lanzini’s shot was blocked, Marko Arnautovic crossed and Antonio headed home.
Back to the drawing board for Fulham and Ranieri.