West Ham come from behind to see off London rivals Fulham 3-1 at the London Stadium

West Ham United 3 (Bowen 29, pen, Scamacca 62, Antonio 90+2)

Fulham 1 (Pereira 5)

West Ham came from a goal down to beat London rivals Fulham 3-1 in the Premier League this afternoon.

Andreas Pereira gave the visitors the lead after just five minutes at the London Stadium.

But a penalty from Jarrod Bowen and a fine chipped finish from the excellent Gianluca Scamacca gave the Hammers the lead, before substitute Michail Antonio sealed the victory in stoppage time.

It was the Whites who started the brighter of the two sides – backing up their superior league position going into the game.

Neeskens Kebano found himself in space after five minutes and played in Pereira down the left flank.

Pereira had an awful lot to do, but Kurt Zouma, instead of trying to close down the angle, let him run, and he smashed the ball high into the top right corner for the opening goal.

Indeed it was down the Fulham left where the Hammers were experiencing most of their problems early on.

Minutes later Lukasz Fabianski was called into action when he beat away Pereira’s shot from a free kick.

The Whites were inches away from doubling their lead after 14 minutes. Daniel James found himself free on the edge of the box and curled a beauty which cannoned back off Fabianski’s crossbar, with the goalkeeper well beaten.

Then Kebano whipped in an enticing cross from the left which whizzed across the face of the Hammers’ goal.

The home side did finally spring into gear on 17 minutes, Scamacca’s header drawing a fine save low down from Bernd Leno.

Scamacca had arguably an even better chance five minutes later, when he was played in down the right by Lucas Paqueta, but his shot went just the wrong side of the left-hand post from a Hammers point of view.

West Ham should have been level after 26 minutes. Scamacca again drawing a fine save from Fabianski after another header, before the goalkeeper tipped over the rebound.

But then Pereira went from hero to pantomime villain for Fulham. He had already been warned twice by referee Chris Kavanagh when attempting to impede his man prior to the resulting corner.

And when the ball finally was delivered, and Pereira hauled Craig Dawson to the ground, Kavanagh was left with the easiest of decisions to award a penalty.

It was such ridiculous play from Pereira that Fulham boss Marco Silva would have undoubtedly been livid with him. Bowen stepped up to make it 1-1 with a cool spot-kick.

It remained 1-1 at the break, but the home side started the second period on the front foot, and again it was that man Scamacca causing most problems, sending a header just wide in the opening stages of the half.

And it was the Italian who gave the Hammers the lead just after the hour mark – although it took another three or four minutes for the goal to be awarded.

A ball over the top of the Fulham defence found Scamacca in acres of space. He controlled it and chipped it over the onrushing Fabianski and into the net.

A double VAR check was called for – Scamacca was just about onside but appeared to control the ball with the aid of an arm. Not a clear and obvious error? Maybe, but on another day, with another adjudicator, VAR would have ruled the goal out. Today it didn’t, and West Ham led.

Substitute Tom Cairney then saw his shot from inside the area blocked virtually on the line by Aaron Cresswell when Fabianski was struggling to get across.

And as the clock ticked down Antonio saw his first shot saved by Fabianski, but converted the rebound for 3-1 and West Ham had the victory which, in the end, they deserved.

Teams:

West Ham United: Fabianski, Cresswell, Zouma, Scamacca (Antonio, 80), Fornals (Downes, 90+2), Paqueta (Emerson, 33), Dawson, Bowen, Kehrer, Soucek, Rice

Fulham: Leno, Adarabioyo, Reed (Cairney, 70), Kebano (Duffy, 89), Ream, De Cordova-Reid, Pereira (Onomah, 77), James (Wilson, 77), Palhinha, Vinicius, Robinson

Referee: Chris Kavanagh