Weekend roundup : Fulham take decisive step but Hammers suffer setback
- By Yann Tear
- 4 minutes ago
- 3 min read
A first win at Turf Moor since April 1951 has given Marco Silva's team vital breathing space in the battle to avoid getting sucked into a relegation campaign.
Goals from Emile Smith Rowe, Calvin Bassey and Harry Wilson gave Fulham a crucial 3-2 win at Burnley and takes them to 20 points and moves them up to 13th place in the table - seven points clear of 18th placed West Ham, who occupy the third relegation place.
It was a perfect send-off from Bassey, who leaves for the Africa Cup of Nations and will be missed over the next few weeks. The Whites will also be without Bassey's fellow Nigerians Alex Iwobi and Samuel Chukuweze, who are also off to the tournament in Morocco.
While Fulham were getting one over the old manager Scott Parker, the Hammers were slipping to a sixth home defeat in eight games at the London Stadium, despite leading twice against Aston Villa.
Matheus Fernandes opened the scoring after 29 seconds - the fastest goal in the division this season - and Jarrod Bowen restored the lead after Konstantinos Mavropanos' own goal had levelled the scores. But two Morgan Rogers goals gave an in-form Villa all three points.
Jordan Henderson scored for Brentford for the first time in a 1-1 draw with Leeds United which also takes them to 20 points. They maintain a four-points gap between themselves and Leeds, but would have hoped to cash in on the visitors' poor away record. Dominic Calvert-Lewin saved the day for the visitors eight minutes from time.
In the Championship, Millwall's impressive march towards the top was halted by a disappointing 3-1 defeat to Hull City at the Den. Femi Azeez was sent off 14 minutes from the end as the Lions trailed 2-0 and although Aidomo Emakhu pulled one back, the Tigers scored again to seal the win. Alex Neil's team drop one place to fourth in the table. They have 35 points and are seven behind second-placed Middlesbrough.
Boro maintain their grip on second thanks to a 3-1 defeat of QPR at the Riverside. A Nicolas Madsen penalty after 70 minutes was only a consolation for the Hoops, who were already 3-0 down by then. It was only a second loss in six games, however and they are still in a challenging position ahead of the holiday programme. They sit ninth on 31 points - three behind the play-offs.
Watford let victory slip from their grasp at Wrexham in the second minute of injury time - an Ollie Rathbone strike spoiling their day after Mamadou Doumbia and Othmane Maamma had put them 2-1 up at the interval. They sit in 13th place - two points behind QPR.
Sub Tyreece Campbell got Charlton a decent 1-1 draw at Birmingham City. The Addicks are 17th on 24 points.
In League One, Orient suffered a 3-2 defat at Barnsley and AFC Wimbledon were held to a 0-0 draw by Mansfield Town at Plough Lane. The O's led 2-1 at the interval, with a Dom Ballard penalty and an Ollie O'Neill goal putting the east Londoners in the box seat but to no avail.
Wimbledon, who have now gone six games without a win, are 10th on 27 points, five adrift of the play-offs after their stalemate. Orient are two points and three places behind them.
And in League Two, Deji Elerewe's goal a minutes from the end gave Bromley a 1-0 win at Accrington, while Barnet failed to build on a midweek thrashing of Bristol Rovers - going down 3-1 at Chesterfield. Mark Shelton just before half time to halve a 2-0 deficit but the Spireites grabbed a third goal towards the end.
Bromley are now fourth and just a point off the promotion places. Barnet are 13th and have four points to make up on the play-off zone.
