Andreas Pereira capitalised on two sloppy Lucas Paqueta mistakes to fire Fulham to a 2-0 victory over West Ham United, Matthew Chadder writes…
Fulham took an early lead through Pereira after Paqueta has given the ball away in midfield, with the Brazilian once again capitalising on a similar error from his fellow countrymen in the second half to earn the Cottagers their first Premier League win at West Ham since November 2001.
Here are five key battles throughout the game…
Moyes vs Silva
David Moyes will once again have questions to answer with West Ham’s play in the final third lacking a cutting edge against Fulham. Despite a bright start from the Hammers, Lucas Paqueta’s sloppy midfield play offered the visitors a route into the match on the break, and West Ham were never quite able to recover. While Marco Silva’s men did most of their attacking work on the counter, when they did have possession, they looked far more purposeful than their opponents, creating the much better chances across the 90 minutes.
Muniz vs Mavropanos
Konstantinos Mavropanos made a shaky start, failing to properly clear Alexander Iwobi’s cross into the box, which led to Pereira opening the scoring. However, for the most part, he was able to handle the physicality of March’s Premier League Player of the Month, Rodrigo Muniz. Fulham constantly looked to play toward Muniz, and while he did have his moments, particularly in the build-up to Fulham’s second goal, the striker was kept relatively quiet for the most part and limited to few opportunities in front of goal.
Paqueta vs Palhinha
Paqueta had an afternoon to forget for the Hammers, with the midfielder twice giving the ball away in midfield and allowing Fulham to break and score. He struggled to hurt Fulham with the tough-tackling Joao Palhinha disrupting the Brazilian’s attacking rhythm. Palhinha was a rock in midfield for Fulham and constantly frustrated the West Ham forward players with his dominant presence, while Paqueta failed to provide any positive impact on the match, constantly losing the ball or struggling to pick a pass.
Ings vs Periera
Danny Ings was a passenger for much of the match, anonymous until the closing stages of the first half when he failed with two headed attempts at goal. Meanwhile, Periera demonstrated to his West Ham counterpart how to play as a number ten, constantly getting on the ball for Fulham and causing danger in between the lines, in addition to his two strikes. While Pereira appeared to hunt the ball down, Ings at times looked as if he was hiding, and Moyes isn’t likely to play the striker in that role again.
Fabianski vs Leno
Bernd Leno had a heart in his mouth moment early on, as he pushed the ball into the path of Michail Antonio, and the German would have been relieved to see the striker fire high and wide with the goal gaping. From this point onward, the shot-stopper had very little to do, with West Ham hardly threatening the Fulham goal. Lukasz Fabianski was slightly busier, but could do very little about either Fulham goal, with the West Ham defence leaving him incredibly exposed on both occasions.
