Fulham smashed West Ham 5-0 at Craven Cottage on Sunday as Marco Silva’s side have won back-to-back home games 5-0 in the Premier League and have now won three of their last four games.
This is the first time Fulham have scored three or more goals in fourth-straight top-flight games since 1962 and all of a sudden the Cottagers are on fire going forward.
Raul Jimenez opened the scoring with his fourth goal in his last five games, while Willian and Tosin both added a goal before half time. Substitute Harry Wilson scored a screamer, while another sub Carlos Vinicius finished things off late on.
With the win Fulham move to 21 points, three points behind West Ham.
The ghost of Mitrovic has finally left Craven Cottage
At Craven Cottage Aleksandar Mitrovic’s name will no longer be mentioned with an air of disappointment about it. Instead it will be spoken about happily. Fulham’s fans and staff are happy they had Mitrovic and happy for the goals that he scored to propel them to the Premier League and stay there. They are now even happier that Fulham appear to have found a genuine solution to make up for the goals they lost when the Serbian star left for Saudi Arabia this summer. Raul Jimenez’s hard work has paid off with four goals in his last five games as he’s the fluid focal point of this attack. Similar but different enough to Mitrovic as his runs open up space for Iwobi, Willian, Wilson, Pereira and others to exploit. This is a total team effort and Antonee Robinson told NBC Sports earlier this week that Fulham don’t want to be a ‘one-man team’ anymore and the players have put pressure on themselves to all chip in with goals and assists. There were five different goalscorers against West Ham as Fulham scored with five of their eight shots on target and there was a wonderful belief, confidence and fluidity about their forward play. That was missing for the final months of last season when Mitrovic was suspended and it has been absent for most of this season. However, the last few weeks have proved that Fulham have found a way to score goals and Mitrovic’s memory can now be a happy one rather than a feeling of a ghost lurking around and reminding them of their lack of goals and how great things used to be. Jimenez may be the new Mitro but it’s also much better for Fulham to have a team-first approach where so many players are chipping in. This is what Silva has been searching for.
Fulham vs West Ham player ratings
Via our friends at FotMob.com, you can see Fulham’s entire team had a beauty of a game. Their midfield and attack flourished with Cairney, Iwobi and Pereira basically unstoppable.
What’s next?
Fulham host Newcastle United on Saturday, Dec. 16. West Ham host SC Freiburg on Thursday, Dec. 14 in the Europa League and then host Wolves on Sunday, Dec. 17.
How to watch Fulham vs West Ham live, stream link and start time
Kick off: 9am ET (Sunday, Dec. 10)
TV Channel: Peacock Premium
Online: Premier League on Peacock
Fulham vs West Ham live updates! - By Joe Prince-Wright
Full time: Fulham 5-0 West Ham
That was a proper hammering for the Hammers as Fulham were clinical and West Ham just didn’t recover from that 20-minute blitz in the first half.
Carlos Vinicius caps off the rout - Fulham 5-0 West Ham (89th minute)
That is a lovely goal to round off the rout as one ball over the top beats West Ham and Vinicius is played in to tap home.
Harry Wilson, stop that, what a goal! Fulham 4-0 West Ham (60th minute)
That is a stunning strike from the half time substitute as he cuts inside on his left foot and curls a beauty into the far top corner. What a strike. Fulham can’t score five at home for the second game at home in just a few days, can they!?
Can the Hammers get back in this?
Probably not is the answer but Moyes has made two half time subs with Emerson on for Cresswell and Mavropanos on for Fornals. That more attacking midfield unit did not work and West Ham have missed Mexico’s Edson Alvarez badly today. Fulham were forced into a half time change with Willian taking a knock at the end of the first half and he didn’t reemerge with Harry Wilson on in his place.
Half time: Fulham 3-0 West Ham
What an incredible 20 minutes or so that was from Fulham as they blew West Ham away with clinical finishing. The Cottagers have now scored three or more goals in four-straight top-flight home games for the first time since 1962 and Marco Silva will be delighted his side finally seem to have shaken off the departure of Aleksandar Mitrovic. As for West Ham, well, David Moyes will have some lively words at half time as aside from a good start the Hammers really struggled.
Cottagers are flying - Tosin heads home - Fulham 3-0 West Ham (41st minute)
A corner from the right finds Tosin at the back post and he powers a header towards goal which flicks off Coufal and beats Fabianski. Fulham in dreamland.
Fulham double their lead as Willian finishes - Fulham 2-0 West Ham (33rd minute)
Willian finishes after Alex Iwobi was denied initially, as a cross comes into the box and the Brazilian winger slots home. Fulham are absolutely flying.
Raul Jimenez is on target again! - Fulham 1-0 West Ham (22nd minute)
He now has four goals in his last five games and Jimenez heads home. Do Fulham finally have their Mitro replacement?
West Ham have started well but the Cottagers have recovered
Plenty of early efforts for West Ham but Leno has been equal to them and now the hosts are finding their feet. It feels like one goal will decide this one.
Fulham lineup
Leno; Castagne, Adarabioyo, Bassey, Robinson; Palhinha, Cairney, Iwobi, Pereira, Willian; Jimenez
West Ham lineup
Fabianski; Coufal, Aguerd, Zouma, Cresswell; Fornals, Ward-Prowse, Soucek; Kudus, Bowen, Paqueta
Focus on Fulham, team news
Fulham will hope its five-star midweek is a sign of opened floodgates, as the goals have come from all over the team but not from one star. Willian and Andreas Pereira are the only Cottagers with four goal involvements.
OUT: Adama Traore (hamstring), Issa Diop (foot), Rodrigo Muniz (knee)
Focus on West Ham, team news
Jarrod Bowen’s eight goals lead the way for West Ham despite some time missed with injuries, while Tomas Soucek has continued his habit of delivering big goals. The Irons are one of few teams with two players boasting five or more assists, as James Ward-Prowse and Vladimir Coufal have each chipped in five helpers.
OUT: Michail Antonio (knee) | QUESTIONABLE: Kurt Zouma (personal)