Premier League GW33 - West Ham vs Fulham

West Ham vs Fulham | Picture Credits: Premier League Website

Unexpectedly, Fulham defeated West Ham 2-0 at the London Stadium to earn a vital victory. Fulham took advantage of their counterattacking opportunities to secure the victory despite the hosts' early dominance. Now let's explore the specifics of this fascinating meeting.

West Ham:

Following their defeat to Leverkusen in the Europa League, Moyes thinks West Ham "have the opportunity to put it right" at home in front of their fans. It will be up to the rotating squad to leave their imprint in this one, though, without Bowen, their top scorer with 15 goals. After a 5-0 thrashing at Craven Cottage in December, Silva's team would be denied a first league double over West Ham since 1965–66 if they avoid defeat against Fulham.

Fulham:

Fulham's talisman is very much in evidence, while West Ham's is missing its in Bowen. After Louis Saha won the title in 2001, Rodrigo Muniz became the first Fulham player to win the Premier League Player of the Month award since Mark Schwarzer in 2010. This makes him just the second recipient in the last 23 years. The honor came after two goals against Tottenham and an overhead kick that equalized the score at Sheffield United in March, out of four goals in four games.

Line ups:

WEST HAM (4-2-3-1): Lukasz FabianskI; Emerson, Nayef Aguerd, Konstantinos Mavropanos, VladimIr Coufal; Edson Alvarez, James Ward-Prowse; Lucas Paqueta, Danny Ings, Mohammed Kudus; Michail Antonio.

WEST HAM SUBS: Maxwel Cornet, Aaron Cresswell, George Earthy, Ben Johnson, Divin Mubama, Angelo Ogbonna, Tomas Soucek, Joseph Anang, Kurt Zouma.

FULHAM (4-2-3-1): Bernd Leno; Antonee Robinson, Calvin Bassey, Tosin Adarabioyo, Timothy Castagne; Sasa Lukic, Joao Palhinha; Willian, Andreas Pereira, Alex Iwobi; Rodrigo Muniz.

FULHAM SUBS: Adama Traore, Armando Broja, Bobby Reid, Harrison Reed, Harry Wilson, Issa Diop, Marek Rodak, Raul Jimenez, Tom Cairney.

London Stadium | Picture Credits - SportsPro Media

Pereira scored a goal for Fulham within 9 minutes as the match started and gave them a 0-1 lead | Picture Credits: Premier League Website

First Half: Pereira Puts Fulham Ahead

Antonio wasted an early, great chance as West Ham got off to a great start. But against the flow of play, Fulham broke the stalemate as Pereira took advantage of a defensive blunder to give the visitors a 1-0 lead. West Ham made an attempt to reply, but a staunch Fulham defense foiled their efforts.

Second Half: Pereira Strikes Again

In the second half, Fulham kept up their frustrating play against West Ham, with Pereira adding his goal total following a skillfully planned counterattack by Iwobi. With a composed finish, the Brazilian midfielder gave Fulham a 2-0 lead, giving West Ham a mountain to climb.

Pereira scored one more goal for Fulham which doubled their lead to 2-0 | Picture Credits: Premier League Website

Fulham Secure Vital Away Win

Fulham ended their recent trend of bad road results by defeating West Ham 2-0 thanks to their well-restrained effort. West Ham dominated the first half of the match, but Fulham's expert finishing was what made the difference. West Ham will need to get back together fast in order to prepare for their Europa League quarterfinal second leg against Leverkusen, while Fulham will be encouraged by their win ahead of their next match against Liverpool. When the final siren sounds, West Ham will examine what went wrong and look to improve in their upcoming match, while Fulham will enjoy a well-earned victory.