West Ham eke out precious win to bolster relegation fight at expense of below-par Fulham

Old Father Thames - oh mist rolling in from.... : Picture by @YTJourno

Premier League

Fulham (0) 0

West Ham (0) 1 Summerville 65

So who's need was going to be the greater? Would Fulham's desire to get into the European conversation prevail or would it be the Hammers' survival instincts?

The first half offered few clues. The game was a morass of mistakes and scrappiness.

It always seemed likely that an error would decide it and it was the Hammers who made the most of it when Crysencio Summerville - in sublime form in recent weeks - pounced to get that all-important goal.

The game did pick up after a drab first 45 minutes but not enough to ignite the home fans. It was the Irons who seemed to knuckle down to the task more and their solid defensive display was rewarded.

In the first half of little fun, we had a Jarrod Bowen shot deflected wide and Callum Wilson fired over from Aaron Wan-Bissaka's cross. The Hammers also had a penalty appeal when a cross struck Alex Iwobi on the shoulder.

Fulham applied late pressure in the half, winning a free-kick they were incorrectly awarded, while Josh King almost profited from a kind deflection - but had his low shot diverted wide by Mads Hermansen's right leg.

But it was all slim pickings for the highlights reel.

Tomas Soucek's header at a corner forced Bernd Leno into a tip-over save at the start of the second half and it hinted at greater entertainment and we certainly soon had more controversy to absorb when ref Matthew Donahue awarded the Whites a penalty when it looked as if Taty Castellanos had brought down Tom Cairney as he was poised to shoot.

Marco Silva was furious VAR flagged up that it was Cairney who had kicked Castellanos and not the other way round - but the decision was rightly changed to no penalty.

The game suddenly had a flow and energy to it and after Castellanos had charged towards goal, Samuel Chukwueze's interception was so firmly hit towards his own net that he was grateful Leno was alert to it.

The Hammers looked in the mood now and when Leno rushed from his area to clear up a loose ball, his attempt to lay-off to Calvin Bassey left both in no man's land. 'Jimmy' Summerville seized the moment - taking possession, driving on and firing low into an unguarded net.

Fulham responded with a clipped Iwobi shot that brushed the roof of the net. Rodrigo Muniz came on for Raul Jimenez and headed just over but the closest they came was when Timothy Castagne rifled through a crowd of players and Hermansen had to get down sharpish to palm the ball away.

West Ham's perhaps greater desire had won out. "Tottenham Hotspur, we're coming for you," rang out from the away end at the end.

The Hammers remain in the bottom three but are now level with Forest on 28 points- after the latter's shock 2-2 draw at Man City - and just a point behind Tottenham. Spurs have their game in hand at home to Palace tomorrow.

Whites: (4-2-3-1) Leno - Tete (Castagne 82), Diop, Bassey, Robinson - Berge (Sessegnon 83), Iwobi - Chukwueze, Cairney (Bobb 60), King (Smith Rowe 60) - Jimenez (Muniz 60)

Hammers: (4-4-2) Hermansen - Wan-Bissaka, Disasi, Todibo (Mavropanos 93), El Hadji Diouf - Bowen, Fernandes (Kante 93), Soucek, Summerville - Wilson (Magassa 60), Castellanos (Traore 88)

Attendance: 27,191