West Ham United (1) 3 v 1 (1) Fulham
29 Bowen (pen) 5 Pereira, assist Kebano
62 Scamacca, assist Lima
90+1 Antonio
Yellows: Kehrer Pereira, H Reed Ref. C Kavanagh
Played Sunday 9 October 2022, at The London Stadium, attendance undisclosed.
Are we back to ‘irregular goals’ to misquote Thomas Tuchel, latterly of Chelsea FC? The score line looks like a convincing West Ham United win over Fulham in line with their UEFA Europa Conference League form, but it was not quite like that. The most regular goal was the Cottagers’ early opener through a tight angled shot by Andreas Pereira. The Hammers equalizer, a penalty by Jarrod Bowen was well taken, but followed two scuffles in the penalty box in the second of which Craig Dawson was floored, rather than a clear cut foul.
If that was ‘irregular’ then the goal that took West Ham United into the lead was more so. The prolonged VAR search for the truth about a possible offside and handball by the attackers, took the shine off the quality of the chip from summer signing Italian forward Gianluca Scamacca for the goal eventually awarded. The third Hammers‘ goal might not have been, had Fulham defender Tim Ream not tripped over his goalkeeper Bernd Leno and cleared the loose ball before Michail Antonio got there. Not a regular occurrence.
The next Premier London Derbies (PLDs) match is Brentford v Chelsea on Tuesday 18 October 2022. This fixture was played for the first time on 21 October 2022 and resulted in a 0-1 defeat for The Bees with a single goal from The Blues Ben Chilwell. The visitors are more cohesive and playing with conviction again, so a repeat away win looks probable. But, Brentford are solid and picking up points, so a close game is likely.
Until next time, ‘Keep Safe” and enjoy your football, Andrew at PLDs.