West Ham 3-1 Fulham: Gianluca Scamacca's controversial strike helps Hammers record back-to-back Premier League wins -

Gianluca Scamacca’s controversial strike saw West Ham claim back-to-back Premier League victories for the first time since January with a 3-1 win over Fulham at the London Stadium.

While Aleksandar Mitrovic was missing with a foot injury, Andreas Pereira took charge of the attack with a superb opening (5), but the Brazilian went from hero to villain when his foul in the box repair on Craig Dawson allowed Jarrod Bowen to equalize (29).

Marco Silva was furious with the decision to award the kick – and he was even more furious when Scamacca’s composed finish after the restart (62) was allowed to stand despite a long VAR delay to check a handball from the ‘attacker.

Michail Antonio (90+1) added a third in stoppage time after a confusion between Bernd Leno and Tim Ream as West Ham moved up to 13th in the Premier League table. Fulham remain ninth with 11 points after back-to-back defeats.

How Scamacca’s determination was ultimately rewarded

Fulham had alternated win and loss in each of their last six Premier League games, losing 4-1 at home to Newcastle last time out. The Cottagers’ three wins in that run were as many as they had managed in their previous 30 Premier League games combined – and they got off to a dynamic start in east London to lead within five minutes.

When Pereira was released from Neeskens Kebano he appeared very little but Kurt Zouma invited the shot and from a sharp angle the former Manchester United midfielder scored his arrival forcefully over Lukasz Fabianski in the top corner.

Team News

Gianluca Scamacca has returned to West Ham’s starting line-up for visiting Fulham. The Italian striker came off the bench to score West Ham’s winning goal against Anderlecht in the Europa Conference League on Thursday. Pablo Fornals in place of Maxwel Cornet was the only change from Wolves’ victory.
Fulham’s top scorer with six goals, Aleksandar Mitrovic, missed with an ankle injury, so Carlos Vinicius started. Antonee Robinson and Palhinha returned from injury and suspension respectively while Neeskens Kebano also came on. Harry Wilson – who hadn’t kicked a ball this season in the Premier League – was back on the bench after recovering from his knee injury.

Things could have gotten worse for the Hammers when Dan James was also given way too much time by Declan Rice as his effort crashed into the crossbar at 14 minutes.

On their return to domestic action after their Europa Conference League effort, despite the wholesale changes, West Ham looked out of rhythm but they – and in particular Lucas Paqueta – gradually asserted themselves.

It was the Brazilian’s cross that was directed towards the goal by Scamacca but Bernd Leno made a good reflex save. Scamacca, looking for a third goal in as many games, then fired low from another Paqueta pass – but the hosts equalized after a moment of petulance from Pereira.

Referee Chris Kavanagh had warned the midfielder on more than one occasion as he tangled with Craig Dawson from a free kick, but Pereira refused to heed the advice as a shirt jumper led to unavoidable circumstances.

Bowen sent his kick with aplomb to score goals in back-to-back league games. After a scrappy end to the half, it was West Ham who again took the fight to Fulham as Scamacca headed in Aaron Cresswell’s cross.

Just after the hour mark came the main talking point of the match as West Ham – and Scamacca – were rewarded for their perseverance. Paqueta was unsurprisingly the architect as his slicked pass found the £35m Italian striker beyond the final defender, but his dinked finish initially appeared offside.

After a lengthy VAR delay that not only considered whether Scamacca was on the wrong side of Bobby Decordova-Reid and even if he handled the ball, the goal was awarded.

Silva turned to club captain Tom Cairney – and the midfielder nearly hoisted his full-back when his shot on goal was snagged virtually off the line by Aaron Cresswell.

Moyes injected more energy into his side as Antonio replaced Scamacca – and the substitute added extra brilliance to the final scoreline in stoppage time as he pushed past Palhinha’s muscle to fire at Leno, but he was not to be denied as the ball duly returned. his feet from the unfortunate Ream for a simple finish.

Analysis: West Ham find their rhythm

Sky Sports’ Ben Grounds at London Stadium:

Marco Silva’s promoted side at Fulham have now lost four of their last six games. It has been a case of boom or bust with very little interval, in the same way that Bournemouth find themselves in a high position despite being hammered 9-0 against Liverpool at the end of August.

David Moyes challenged his own players to ‘show their worth’ as West Ham sought to climb the rankings, and after taking a while to get started their superiority was finally revealed.

After the victory against Wolves last weekend, there is only one defeat left in their last five matches in all competitions. All the signs are there that the team can develop into a competitive unit and Moyes now has plenty of depth to mount sustained training on all fronts.

After a slow start to the campaign, something not unheard of during his successful spell at Everton, Moyes is once again forming a squad that can live up to the club’s heightened ambitions.

Goals	Pereira, Bowen, Scamacca, Antonio.
Aids	Kebano, Dawson, Paqueta.
Bonus Points	Antonio (3), Paqueta (3), Scamacca (2)

Player of the Match – Lucas Paqueta

Paqueta made an inauspicious start to his career at West Ham having not completed a full 90 minutes until Sunday, and although he was pulled off 84 minutes here, it was by far his most complete display to date .

The Brazilian signed for a club-record £51.3million from Lyon created two chances and had four shots to go along with his assist for Scamacca. There were other classy moments as he danced away from two Fulham players on the near touchline.

His dazzling feet will make him a fan favorite in these parts.

Bowen: Confidence is high

Bowen has scored 19 of his 23 Premier League goals at the London Stadium (83%); this is the highest ratio scored in a single stadium by a player with at least 20 goals in the history of the competition.

Bowen said: “It was tough, they started really well and we didn’t come out of the blocks at all. We dug in and got back in the game and played some great stuff. We’ve won all three games since. the international break so confidence is high.

“We have to be better at the start of games because being behind is an uphill battle. It’s up to us as players to start from the start.”

Scamacca became the ninth player to score in his first two Premier League home starts for West Ham, and the first since their move to the London Stadium, with Diafra Sakho being the previous player to do so at Upton Park in October 2014.

Bowen said of Scamacca: “You never know if you’re going to be offside or if you played handball, but you saw the celebrations when the goal was scored. It was a great finish – him and Lucas [Paqueta] certainly played their part. If you look at his [Scamacca’s] performance he’s definitely settled into now.”

Fulham’s bad derby record – Opta stats

West Ham have won consecutive Premier League games for the first time since January last season (three in a row). They had only won two of their previous 14 league games (D3 L9).
Fulham remain winless in their last 16 Premier League derbies away from home (D3 L13), losing all three this season (against Arsenal, Spurs, West Ham).
West Ham have won a Premier League game they first fell behind in 2022 (P17 W1 D3 L13), having last done so against Watford in December 2021.
At 4.47am, Andreas Pereira’s opener for Fulham was the first Premier League goal West Ham have conceded at the London stadium since March 2019, when current West Ham defender Kurt Zouma scored against them for Everton (4:02).