Hammers too strong for Fulham

Anton Ferdinand grabbed the winner for West Ham in their 2-1 victory over Fulham at Upton Park.

West Ham come from behind to grab three points.

Anton Ferdinand grabbed the winner for West Ham in their 2-1 victory over Fulham at Upton Park to stretch the Cottagers' winless streak to 10. The game was brought to life on seven minutes when, after a quiet start, Simon Davies gave Fulham the lead with a fortuitous free-kick. An unmarked Carlos Bocanegra attempted to get his head to the Welsh winger's delivery, but the ball flashed straight past his face and past a stranded Robert Green. West Ham then took control of the game and equalised after 28 minutes through Dean Ashton. Freddie Ljungberg put in a great cross from the right and Ashton got in front of his marker to flick his header across Antti Niemi into the far corner. The Fulham keeper then produced two outstanding saves from the Hammers striker to keep the scores level at the break. West Ham again looked positive after the break, and grabbed a winner through Ferdinand on 69 minutes. Mark Noble did well to stop the ball going out of play down the right and his sliding cross was crashed home by Ferdinand. Fulham had their chances to steal a point, most notably through Chris Baird's free header, but West Ham held on for all three points.

Bullard

There was a welcome return to football for Jimmy Bullard, who was included on the Fulham bench for the first time in 16 months after recovering from a horrific knee injury. Bullard came on late in the day and saw an injury-time strike deflected wide but it was almost enough for the Fulham fans just to see him back in action. It had all started so brightly at Upton Park after Davies curled in a wicked free-kick from the left flank which flew in at the back post - only Fulham's seventh goal on their league travels all season. Fulham had to replace Carlos Bocanegra with Aaron Hughes after the American suffered a clash of heads with Freddie Ljungberg but they were making life difficult for West Ham, squeezing them for time and space. But when Ljungberg found half a yard outside Paul Konchesky, on his return to Upton Park following a summer move to Fulham, West Ham found the telling breakthrough.

Glanced

Ljungberg's pinpoint delivery picked out Ashton, who had escaped Hughes on an angled run towards the near post and the England prospect glanced his header past Niemi. The goal injected some confidence into the West Ham side and after Carlton Cole escaped the Fulham defence to earn a corner Niemi needed to be alert to hold onto Ferdinand's header. West Ham had their tails up and controlled the last 15 minutes of the first half - but found Niemi in inspirational form.

Spectacular

The Finn produced a spectacular save from Ashton, whose left-foot volley from 15-yards seemed a certain goal until it was deflected up and onto the bar. Cole's flick then found Ashton who checked, cut back inside and curled a left-foot strike which forced Niemi into an acrobatic one-handed stop. Cole worked a golden chance for himself, holding off Hughes to find himself one-on-one with Niemi but only managed to poke his shot straight at the keeper. West Ham started the second half with verve as Ashton latched onto Ljungberg's clipped ball into the box but could only divert it wide. Davies embarked on a determined run forward as Fulham looked for an attacking spark but he was checked by Mark Noble and West Ham counter-attacked, with Ljungberg almost picking out Cole with another dangerous cross. West Ham came again. Matthew Etherington cut in from the left and teed up Noble, whose fierce drive collected a Fulham defender on the way and deflected wide.

Fizzed

Clint Dempsey came close to re-establishing the lead for Fulham with a low drive which had Green stretching but fizzed just wide of the near post. Fulham then had Konchesky to thank for a goal-line clearance after Cole had risen to meet Etherington's corner from the left with a powerful header. Ljungberg, in easily his best game since moving to West Ham, set up a chance for Luis Boa Morte moments after the Portuguese forward came off the bench and then won a corner with another testing cross. Noble's initial delivery was cleared - but he cut back a low ball to Ferdinand whose first time strike into the roof of the net earned West Ham the lead. Fulham upped the tempo in search of an equaliser and Chris Baird missed a golden opportunity to level after Upson had fouled Healy on the edge of the West Ham box. He escaped Ashton to meet Danny Murphy's free-kick but, unmarked and just six yards out, his header flew over the bar.

West Ham United	Team Statistics	Fulham
2	Goals	1
1	1st Half Goals	1
7	Shots on Target	2
3	Shots off Target	8
6	Blocked Shots	4
8	Corners	7
21	Fouls	16
3	Offsides	2
0	Yellow Cards	1
0	Red Cards	0
69	Passing Success	67.4
20	Tackles	16
75	Tackles Success	81.2
54.4	Possession	45.6
54.3	Territorial Advantage	45.7