Hammers crush Cottagers

Andy Carroll starred on his debut for West Ham as he inspired the Hammers to a convincing 3-0 victory over Fulham at Upton Park.

Allardyce's men wrap up points before half-time

Andy Carroll starred on his debut for West Ham as he inspired the Hammers to a convincing 3-0 victory over Fulham at Upton Park. The Cottagers had no answer to the powerful frontman, or those deployed around him by Sam Allardyce, as the hosts burst out of the blocks and never looked back. Kevin Nolan opened the scoring inside 53 seconds, with a Carroll knock down moved on to the Hammers skipper by Ricardo Vaz Te and he made no mistake with a controlled volley. West Ham could easily have been out of sight by the time Winston Reid rose highest to meet a Matt Taylor corner on 29 minutes and powered home a header with Mark Schwarzer caught in no man's land. Taylor then added the third goal of the afternoon himself shortly before half-time, with Fulham so concerned about dealing with the aerial threat of Carroll that they left the former Bolton man all alone on the edge of the box to coolly dispatch a loose ball which dropped in his direction. Fulham introduced deadline day signing Dimitar Berbatov at the interval, but he was unable to sprinkle his own brand of magic on proceedings and the sight of Carroll limping out of the action on 68 minutes proved to be the most notable occurrence of the second half.

Finish

Carroll, who was flanked by Vaz Te and Taylor with Matt Jarvis missing following a knock in training, was involved straight away. A long, clearing header from James Collins was flicked on by the England international into the path of Vaz Te who played the ball in to Nolan, with Carroll's ex-Newcastle team-mate finishing firmly past Schwarzer. Fulham's debutant Kieran Richardson had the visitors' first real chance when he fired in a low effort from distance that was palmed away by West Ham goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen. With less than 10 minutes on the clock Carroll was again involved when he headed Vaz Te's cross into the on-rushing Mohamed Diame, who saw his effort tipped onto the crossbar by Schwarzer. The Australian goalkeeper was keeping his side in the game in the opening exchanges and was called upon once more to tip Vaz Te's low shot around the post. Nolan came close to adding a second in the 16th minute as the same combination of players who created the first goal ran riot once more. Carroll, who had won every header he contested in the early stages, picked out Vaz Te who found Nolan on the edge of the Fulham penalty area. This time the Hammers captain attempted a lobbed effort that landed on the top of Schwarzer's net with the home side fully in control. Fulham started to enjoy a little bit more possession as the first half progressed but were soon further behind.

Thorn

Taylor's 29th-minute corner found Reid on the edge of the six-yard area and he beat Mahamadou Diarra to the ball to power a header past Schwarzer to double the home side's lead. Vaz Te, who was full of running and always wanted the ball, was proving a constant thorn in the side of the Fulham defence and Nolan should have done better when the Portuguese picked him out inside the box. It was not long afterwards that the third goal was scored by the Hammers as Collins' free-kick was headed clear by Fulham's Brede Hangeland. The loose ball broke free to the feet of Taylor who finished well from the edge of the penalty area. Fulham had back-to-back corners in first-half injury time but could not create an opening and were almost caught on the counter-attack before the half-time whistle. Fulham manager Martin Jol reacted to the disastrous first half by introducing new signing Berbatov at the interval with Mladen Petric making way. Carroll started the second half as he did the first, winning a header that found Vaz Te, who could not direct his shot towards goal. Taylor almost scored his second of the game five minutes after the re-start as a short free-kick was worked to him by Nolan. The 30-year-old's effort was straight at Schwarzer but the experienced goalkeeper could not hold it and the ball was eventually cleared for a corner.

Possession

Fulham again had a spell of sustained possession but still lacked a cutting edge even with Berbatov now involved. Carroll was replaced by Carlton Cole with just under 25 minutes remaining after seeming to injure his hamstring after a heavy landing. The visitors continued to press and Steve Sidwell finally forced a smart save out of Jaaskelainen following a Damien Duff corner. Jol's side continued to show signs of improvement as Berbatov linked well with Hugo Rodallega, with the latter again testing Jaaskelainen. West Ham boss Allardyce was forced to make his third and final substitution when defender Guy Demel went down injured. Demel was replaced by teenager Robert Hall with Taylor reverting to full-back. Hall had the chance to put West Ham four goals ahead after Vaz Te ran the length of the field after collecting the ball from a poor Fulham corner. The 25-year-old jinked his way into the box and rolled the ball to Hall but his shot was well blocked. The three points had long-since been secured by the Hammers who sat back for the closing stages with Fulham chasing a consolation goal. Berbatov certainly gave Fulham a cutting edge during the closing stages and almost created goals for Duff and Rodallega, with Jaaskelainen keeping both efforts out.

West Ham United	Team Statistics	Fulham
3	Goals	0
3	1st Half Goals	0
6	Shots on Target	9
4	Shots off Target	1
6	Blocked Shots	5
6	Corners	6
12	Fouls	5
1	Offsides	2
0	Yellow Cards	0
0	Red Cards	0
83.4	Passing Success	84.6
25	Tackles	21
80	Tackles Success	95.2
45.1	Possession	54.9
51	Territorial Advantage	49
453	Total Passes	553
22	Total Crosses	18
137	Lost Balls	153
58	Recoveries	45
44.4	1st Half Poss.	55.6
45.7	2nd Half Poss.	54.3