Fulham 2 West Ham Utd 1

The last thing a manager needs when he is fighting for survival is for his most trusted lieutenant to shoot his team in the foot. So Sam Allardyce was dismayed when West Ham's captain, Kevin Nolan, earned a senseless red card in this bottom of the table battle and, in doirng so, helped Fulham to prevail as West Ham were plunged deeper into trouble.

Berbatov decider
Nolan was sent off in the 44th minute with the score at 1-1 and a makeshift West Ham side still confident of ekeing out a win. That prospect receded when Nolan, frustrated at having a run blocked off by Fernando Amorebieta, booted the defender to the ground, obliging the referee Mark Clattenburg to reach for the red. Fulham dominated thereafter and secured victory through Dimitar Berbatov.

The match had started well for West Ham even though a long casualty list forced Allardyce to field an unfamiliar three-man central defence featuring no specialist central defenders, the deal to sign Jonny Heitinga from Everton not having been completed.

Fulham have defensive frailties too, and they were exposed in the seventh minute when Mohamed Diame was allowed to take down a long free-kick from Jussi Jaaskelainen, turn 10 yards from the home goal and lash into the net. Although Fulham enjoyed the majority of possession Nolan nearly made it 2-0 with a close-range header in the 23rd minute.

West Ham’s injury woes worsened when Mark Noble suffered a calf strain and had to be replaced by Razvan Rat in the 32nd minute.

The visitors were still adapting to that change when Fulham equalised, Sidwell heading a Damien Duff corner into the net. In the 66th minute a low cross from the left was helped on by Scott Parker to Berbatov for a tap-in.
Guardian Service