Soccer Football - Premier League - Fulham v West Ham United - Craven Cottage, London, Britain - December 10, 2023 Fulham's Carlos Vinicius in action with West Ham United's Nayef Aguerd REUTERS/Tony Obrien
LONDON (Reuters) -A spirited Fulham side registered their second straight 5-0 victory in the Premier League on Sunday when they beat West Ham United at home in a one-sided London derby, with five different players getting their names on the score sheet.
Fulham, who also beat Nottingham Forest 5-0 on Wednesday, have hit a purple patch in front of goal in recent weeks and Sunday's win marked the fourth straight game in which they had scored at least three goals.
Fulham started the day 14th in the standings and victory moved Marco Silva's side up to 10th on 21 points, three behind ninth-placed West Ham.
"We keep getting in the right areas. We were doing that earlier this season but maybe the runs weren't there or we weren't filling the spaces," said Harry Wilson, who scored one goal from long range and assisted another.
"It has been a big week and we've taken confidence from scoring three at Anfield (in a 4-3 loss against Liverpool last weekend) and not winning into our home games. We have to make this place tough to come to."
Fulham went ahead in the 22nd minute from a set-piece when Joao Palhinha floated a tempting cross into the box and Raul Jimenez guided it home with a pinpoint header -- his third goal in two games.
The home side doubled their lead around the half-hour mark when their sustained pressure allowed them to win back the ball and though Lukasz Fabianski saved Alex Iwobi's initial effort, he could do nothing when Willian found the far bottom corner.
Fulham took full command of the game just before halftime from a corner when Tosin Adarabioyo scored with a towering header to give them a 3-0 lead over their London rivals.
West Ham boss David Moyes made defensive changes at halftime but there was no let-up from Fulham and Wilson put the cherry on top when he curled an effort from outside the box into the top corner.
Wilson then beat West Ham's offside trap, breaking past their high defensive line to go through on goal but when Fabianski came off his line he unselfishly played a pass to Carlos Vinicius, who passed the ball into an empty net.
It was West Ham's first defeat in five league games as they were brought down to earth following Thursday's comeback win at Tottenham Hotspur.
"If you had given me two draws in the two away games at Tottenham and Fulham I would probably have taken it, so to get three points is not bad," Moyes said.
"Today I think we were below it physically... Nevertheless, Fulham played well."
(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru;Editing by Christian Radnedge and Clare Fallon)
