Hammers see off 10-man Fulham

West Ham climb to fifth in the Premier League with a 2-1 win away at 10-man Fulham.

Six points from six for Zola

West Ham jump to fifth in the Premier League with a 2-1 win away at 10-man Fulham. The hosts dominated the opening exchanges, but fell behind against the run of play when Carlton Cole tapped home Matthew Etherington's cross after 43 minutes. Etherington then doubled the Hammers' lead two minutes later, latching on to Mark Noble's through ball before sliding the ball past the advancing Mark Schwarzer. Things got worse for Fulham on the stroke of half-time when striker Andy Johnson was dismissed for a second bookable offence. Fulham got back into the game just before the hour mark when captain Danny Murphy slotted home a penalty after Lucas Neill handled in the box, but the hosts hung on to claim Gianfranco Zola's second win from as many league games.

Bright start

Fulham had been so dominant in the opening exchanges that there was no inkling of the series of mishaps that were to befall them. Simon Davies was only inches wide with a fierce drive early on although former Hammer Bobby Zamora should have done better when he planted a header wide after Danny Murphy had picked him out in the box. West Ham goalkeeper Robert Green had to come off his line to stop Johnson from latching on to a through ball and when the striker was booked in the 20th minute for a lunge on Herita Ilunga, Fulham simply carried on attacking. Zamora poked wide, Johnson headed a Jimmy Bullard free-kick over and Brede Hangeland was also off target when Bullard's corner eluded the West Ham defence. It seemed it would simply be a matter of time before Fulham took a deserved lead and Bullard, having first planted a free-kick over, was denied only by Green's agility when he beat the wall with another from almost exactly the same spot. Green had been hurt by former team-mate John Pantsil's follow-up as he dived to his left to palm away and tempers boiled over briefly.

Etherington impresses

That was the case again in the 39th minute when another ex-Hammer, Paul Konchesky, hurt Etherington and was booked, although the left-back had certainly played the ball before catching his man. Etherington recovered and promptly set up his side's 43rd-minute opener before scoring the second himself. Cole was quicker to the ball than Hangeland to send the winger away down the right and when Schwarzer spilled the resulting cross Cole was there for a simple finish. Schwarzer had been a virtual spectator until then but within two minutes he was picking the ball out of the net again. Noble played a pass from his own half and Etherington used his pace to leave his challenger behind and beat Schwarzer. And there was still time for Johnson to pick up his second booking for a lunge on Neill. Schwarzer was the busier goalkeeper in the second period and was required to make saves from first Noble and Ilunga as the Hammers made use of their extra man. Fulham had not given up however and were awarded a penalty in the 58th minute when referee Andre Marriner ruled that Zoltan Gera's header had hit Neill on the arm. Murphy made no mistake from the spot. Zamora then got the slightest of touches from Bullard's free-kick after Scott Parker had been booked for felling Gera in the 68th minute.

Zamora chance

But again the striker should have done better as he was just six yards out with the goal at his mercy. Still Fulham came forward and Ilunga survived another penalty appeal after a Pantsil cross had hit him. Zola replaced the ineffective David Di Michele with Craig Bellamy with a quarter of an hour remaining and the Welshman set up Cole for a curled effort that clipped the top of the bar. Bellamy should have scored himself however when he spooned the ball over an unguarded net after Hangeland had blocked his initial effort on the line, with Schwarzer nowhere.

Fulham	Team Statistics	West Ham United
1	Goals	2
0	1st Half Goals	2
2	Shots on Target	7
12	Shots off Target	7
6	Blocked Shots	4
2	Corners	4
14	Fouls	16
2	Offsides	3
3	Yellow Cards	1
1	Red Cards	0
81	Passing Success	83.3
16	Tackles	15
68.8	Tackles Success	93.3
47.8	Possession	52.2
56.7	Territorial Advantage	43.3