Fulham Thrash West Ham 5-0 At Craven Cottage
Raul Jimenez continued his return to form with another goal as Fulham thrashed lacklustre West Ham to record their second five-goal victory in five days at Craven Cottage.
The Mexico forward, who sustained a life-threatening skull fracture three years ago, gave the hosts the lead when he headed in Joao Palhinha’s cross for his fourth goal in five league games.
Marco Silva’s side were in total control by half-time after Willian added a second from Andreas Pereira’s cut-back and Tosin Adarabioyo out-jumped Kurt Zouma at a corner to head in the hosts’ third.
Substitute Harry Wilson was denied by Lukasz Fabianski as a dominant Fulham pressed on – but the West Ham goalkeeper stood no chance of denying the Wales international when he curled a stunning left-footed shot into the top corner from the edge of the penalty area.
Carlos Vinicius then sealed Fulham’s second 5-0 win of the week, following Wednesday’s demolition of Nottingham Forest, after Wilson unselfishly teed him up when through on goal.
The thoroughly-deserved victory lifted Fulham into the top half of the table, three points behind ninth-placed West Ham who missed the chance to climb into the Premier League’s top six.
“It was a brilliant performance from us. The players understood the plan and executed it so well. It was almost a perfect afternoon for us,” said Silva.
“Confidence builds confidence and the best example of this is Raul [Jimenez],” the Fulham manager added. “We are not really different now, we changed and adjusted some things but the faith in our players was always there.”
Jimenez has struggled to rediscover his former level since he suffered that potentially career-ending head injury playing for Wolves against Arsenal in November 2020.
But the goals are beginning to flow for the 32-year-old again – as they are for a Fulham side whose shortcomings in attack appeared a major concern only a matter of weeks ago.
Jimenez’s current run of four goals in five Premier League games is as many as he managed in his previous 49 appearances in the competition.
But, having scored twice in a Premier League game for the first time since January 2020 in the midweek thrashing of Forest, he has now scored in consecutive appearances for the first time since October 2020.
And, crucially for Fulham, the club’s £5m summer signing is beginning to demonstrate he is capable of filling the void left by talisman Aleksandar Mitrovic’s departure.
The Mexican’s thumping header after 22 minutes ignited Fulham, who had been second best in the opening stages – though James Ward-Prowse’s superbly hit free-kick from more than 30 yards out was Bernd Leno’s only save of note.
West Ham, desperately lacking energy and ideas, were subsequently blown away in the space of 18 minutes as Fulham treated their fans to another excellent home performance.
A half-time substitute after the lively Willian picked up an injury which Silva will hope is not serious, Wilson hit the best goal of Fulham’s five-star showing before collecting Harrison Reed’s ball over the top and allowing Vinicius to slot in from close range.
The Cottagers scored just 10 goals in their opening 12 league games of the season. They now have 15 in their past four and, after a slow start, are looking up the table.
Meanwhile, this was a day to quickly forget for West Ham and David Moyes – just three days after the Hammers boss described his side’s comeback win over Tottenham as “one of the biggest wins” of his career.
A win could have moved the visitors level with fifth-placed Tottenham, but with that opportunity missed they must now dust themselves down as they seek to clinch top spot in their Europa League group when they host Freiburg on Thursday night.
“Probably the Tottenham game played a big part in today. Mentally and physically we found it tough,” Moyes said.
“We used up too much energy in midweek and we weren’t able to get ourselves back. [But there is] no excuse for the result,” he added.
