Fulham 0 - 1 West Ham

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Saturday Feb 23 2008 03:00

Fulham's slide towards the Championship continued with a controversial 1-0 defeat against West Ham at Craven Cottage.Nolberto Solano's winner, three minutes from time, appeared to roll into the net off the Peru international's arm, but referee Howard Webb rejected the pleas of the home players to the disbelief of manager Roy Hodgson.

The goal, which was as scrappy as the contest that had preceded it, summed up an afternoon which lacked any real spark or quality on an afternoon which was supposed to pay tribute to the only Englishman to have lifted the World Cup.

Bobby Moore may have been remembered in spirit at Craven Cottage but the great man would have been left dismayed by the level of mediocrity on display in West London.

Moore, who represented both clubs with distinction during his career, died 15 years ago on Sunday and, after holding a minute's applause for the defender, many would have hoped that the football on show would pay tribute to such a great player.

Unfortunately, neither team managed to impress, with England head coach Fabio Capello left yawning in the stands.

In a dire first half, neither team managed to produce the type of football that Moore would have admired.

The former West Ham legend would have been perturbed by the way his old club frequently wasted possession, while Fulham, who at times stroked the ball about quite beautifully, looked toothless in attack.

But it was Alan Curbishley's team that should have opened the scoring when Carlton Cole muscled his way through the Fulham defence, only to see his effort brilliantly blocked by Paul Konchesky.

And moments later Cole threatened again, this time sending a swerving volley just inches over Antti Niemi's crossbar with the goalkeeper beaten.

Fulham meanwhile continued to struggle with Jimmy Bullard the only ray of light for Hodgson's side on a grey and gloomy day in West London.

The tousled midfielder was at the heart of everything positive about the relegation-threatened hosts and his pass allowed Paul Stalteri to pick out Clint Dempsey at the near post, only for the American to skew his effort wide of the post.

Fulham improved after the break and almost snatched the lead when Brede Hangeland's powerful header came close to beating Robert Green, only to sail over the crossbar.

With the home side increasing the tempo after a dismal first 45 minutes, West Ham appeared to have lost their way with passes continually going astray.Mark Noble's flashing effort was a rare glimpse of quality from a team supposedly chasing a place in next season's UEFA Cup, but those aspirations will surely have to be put on hold if this display is anything to go by.

Both Dempsey and Cole wasted half-chances at either end, before Brian McBride saw his close-range effort blocked by Matthew Upson after Paul Konchesky's free-kick had caused panic in the West Ham penalty area.

But despite looking the more likely, Fulham came perilously close to falling behind as Freddie Ljungberg's cross picked out Cole unmarked, only for the striker to somehow head straight at Niemi from six yards out.

But that miss was to prove inconsequential as Solano took advantage of Niemi's poor handling to sweep the ball home with what looked like his arm and hammer another nail into Fulham's coffin.

Fulham's misery was compounded when midfielder Leon Andreasen was sent off deep into stoppage time for dissent.

  • 90
    FT:Fulham 0-1 West Ham: West Ham steal the three points thanks to Nolberto Solano but Fulham will feel hard done by having dominated the game for long periods.
  • 90
    Fulham are trying to press but West Ham are defending well and still look dangerous on the counter attack.
  • 90
    Five minutes of added time have been indicated.
  • 90
    Freddie Ljungberg is replaced by Jonathan Spector as West Ham try to hold onto the result.
  • 89
    Replays suggest that Solano was very fortunate to score as the ball seems to strike his hand before crossing the line and had the referee seen that then he may well have disallowed it.
  • 88
    Leon Andreasen picks up his second yellow card for his complaints about the goal as he felt Solano fouled Niemi.
  • 88
    GOAL:Fulham 0-1 West Ham: (88mins) Solano scrambles the ball over the line to give the Hammers the lead after Niemi fumbles it.
  • 85
    West Ham are struggling to get out of their half at the moment and Kamara finds Bullard and Green has made a superb save to keep the scoreline goalless - he has saved his time there, that's for sure.
  • 83
    Eddie Johnson has half a chance now as the ball from Konchesky drops onto his right foot but he can only help it over the bar - it was not an easy one though.
  • 82
    Fulham have a free-kick in a dangerous position just outside the box and Bullard and Murphy look particularly interested - but Bullard can only find the wall.
  • 80
    Dean Ashton is on now for West Ham in place of the rather wasteful Carlton Cole who has had a number of chances to score this afternoon.
  • 79
    Hangeland plays it back to Hughes who then blindly tries to play it back to Niemi who was not where Hughes thought and the keeper did well to get back and recover the situation.
  • 77
    Pressure again from the Cottagers as McBride, Stalteri and finally Andreasen have efforts on goal and evetually the ball spins out for a corner - that once more Green claims.
  • 77
    Fulham are making a change as one American Clint Dempsey is replaced by another Eddie Johnson - who is making his Fulham debut.
  • 76
    Again Fulham get themselves into the final third but yet again the final ball is not good enough and Rob Green is able to claim a simple catch.
  • 74
    Ljungberg pressures Hangeland in the corner and eventually wins the ball and stands up a cross for Cole but its not a good header and Niemi makes a simple save.
  • 72
    Fulham look the most likely to break the deadlock at the moment and they are really pushing for it.
  • 70
    Robert Green loses a corner and Fulham are swarming around it but Upson is back on the line to block the shot and West Ham clear.
  • 69
    McCartney has not been his usual marauding self today but he does get into the attacking third now and forces a corner of Hangeland.
  • 66
    Clint Dempsey ghosts in behind the West Ham defence and only has to loop the header over Green but he fails to do so and he is not happy with himself there.
  • 65
    Mark Noble is starting to pull the strings in the midfield for the Hammers and he releases Cole again who works room for his shot but again Fulham defenders are back bravely to block.
  • 63
    Solano is finally going to come on and it is in place of the rather quiet Julien Faubert, in what is a straight swap.
  • 62
    However they now have a great chance as Noble works room for himself and then lays it off for Boa Morte who is only denied by a superb save from Niemi.
  • 60
    West Ham are really off the pace of play since the break and it looks like Alan Curbishley is readying Nolberto Solano for action to try and change things.
  • 56
    Fulham are enjoying the better of this second period and look the side most likely to score but they are not creating as many chances as they would like.
  • 53
    Replays have shown that Kamara's shot was clearly blocked by the hand of Anton Ferdinand and Fulham can feel a little unfortunate not to have been awarded a penalty kick.
  • 52
    Fulham now lump a long hopeful ball into the box and Rob Green flaps at it and Hangeland has a great chance but he has managed to head it over. What a chance!
  • 50
    Mark Noble is down receiving some treatment after McBride clattered into the England Under-21 captain.
  • 48
    But they have a chance now as Stalteri crosses for Kamara who dithers slightly on the ball and his shot is evenutally blocked by Ferdinand.
  • 48
    Fulham look a little short of ideas a lot of the time and that is perhaps because they are unable to get Jimmy Bullard on the ball enough.
  • 46
    The second half can only be an improvement on that poor first half from both sides and Fulham definitely need to try and take all the points after Birmingham's impressive draw earlier on.
  • 45
    HT:Fulham 0-0 West Ham: A very poor first half comes to a close with the game still goalless and there has been a shortage of real goulmouth action so far.
  • 45
    Andreasen advances towards the Hammers defence and tries his luck from long range but the shot is weak and Green collects easily.
  • 45
    One minute of stoppage time has been indicated.
  • 43
    Fulham are back on the front foot at the moment and Dempsey again goes close as his half volley flicks off Ferdinand and flashes just wide - that might well have been finding the top corner.
  • 41
    Stalteri picks up a loose clearance from Upson and bends a low ball towards the near post where Dempsey is arriving but he can only flick the ball wide.
  • 38
    Mark Noble bends a free-kick into the danger area from out wide on the right but Aaron Hughes does superbly to head the ball clear under pressure from Cole and Upson.
  • 35
    Brian McBride is on the comeback trail after a serious injury suffered at the start of the season and he does, understandably, look a little off the pace so far.
  • 32
    This game is really not the best so far, both sides are putting in plenty of effort but the quality has not been there on a consistent basis.
  • 30
    Fulham have been guilty of giving possession away quite cheaply in the last ten minutes or so but they have a chance to cause trouble with a set piece now - but it is lofted stright to Robert Green.
  • 28
    Leon Andreasen is the third Cottagers player to go into the book after a foul on Carlton Cole.
  • 27
    West Ham are really taking control now and Boa Morte has a great chance to give them the lead but he flicks the ball over the bar from the edge of the six yard box.
  • 24
    Things are getting a little lively in the tackles at the moment with players from both sides flying into the tackles.
  • 21
    Another half chance for Carlton Cole as he escapes his marker to head the ball goalwards but Niemi is there to palm it onto the bar.
  • 20
    Brede Hangeland has already had a warning and he now is cautioned after a late challenge on Boa Morte.
  • 18
    Great chance for Carlton Cole as he hustles Hughes off the ball and advances on goal but Konchesky is across in the nick of time to deflect his shot wide.
  • 17
    Things have quietened down a little and West Ham are starting to turn the screw a little bit now as they gain better control of the ball.
  • 14
    Danny Murphy now picks up a yellow card for a tackle from behind on Mark Noble.
  • 12
    And Carlton Cole now forces the first save of the day from Antti Niemi as he turns and volleys on target from Ljungberg's cross.
  • 10
    West Ham are on the back foot a little as Fulham begin the brighter of the two sides, although Rob Green has had little do in fairness.
  • 7
    Clint Dempsey manufactures a shooting angle but his effort comes back off Anton Ferdinand but Konchesky is waiting and he fires it just a fraction wide of the far post.
  • 5
    There is a nice rhythm and pace to the game early on with both sides passing it pretty nicely in the midfield areas.
  • 2
    Fulham have made a bright start with Bullard and Dempsey playing some nice stuff between them and forcing an early corner off Lucas Neill.
  • 0
    Referee Howard Webb has got the game underway.
  • 0
    West Ham: Green, Neill, Ferdinand, Upson, McCartney, Ljungberg, Mullins, Faubert, Noble, Boa Morte, Cole
  • 0
    Fulham: Niemi, Stalteri, Hughes, Hangeland, Konchesky, Andreasen, Bullard, Murphy, Dempsey, McBride, Kamara
  • 0
    West Ham give a start to Luis Boa Morte as he returns to the club he captained for a while last season, while Dean Ashton is left on the bench as Carlton Cole starts.
  • 0
    Fulham have been on a pretty poor run lately but the return of Jimmy Bullard has galvanised them and the win against Villa a few weeks ago was huge for them.
  • 0
    Welcome to Craven Cottage where relegation threatened Fulham entertain London rivals West Ham United.

Statistics

Fulham
Shots on target 14
Shots off target 4
Shots off bar/post 0
Fouls 12
Offsides 1
Corners 5

West Ham
Shots on target 6
Shots off target 5
Shots off bar/post 1
Fouls 17
Offsides 1
Corners 8

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