If David Moyes was waiting for a rousing performance from West Ham to spark hopes of a return to the Europa League against Bayer Leverkusen, there was no sign of encouragement in this flat defeat against Fulham.
A good start from West Ham failed to translate into a goal and Andreas Pereira revealed a defensive error for the breakthrough. Fulham took control of the match – their dangerous attacks rewarded by another live finish from the Brazilian – to flatten the hosts and weaken their chances of qualifying for European football again next season.
West Ham must overturn a two-goal deficit against Leverkusen on Thursday night, but this limp defeat provided no evidence to suggest they are capable of delivering another famous European night.
Moyes said: “I’m gutted because it was a great opportunity to finish sixth. But we gave the ball to midfield and that opened us up and we were punished.
On their chances of upsetting Leverkusen in the second leg, the West Ham coach said: “Miracle is a strong word. But we will have to play really well. We didn’t have our shooting boots on today. We are going to need our scorers to find the goods.
West Ham started with a goal and should have scored the opener inside the first four minutes after Vladimir Coufal’s attempt was parried by Bernd Leno and Michail Antonio slotted the ball in from close range.
There were no initial signs of fatigue after their midweek exploits at Leverkusen and Mohammed Kudus curled a shot from the right edge of the area just past Leno’s far post. The initial dominance continued with a Lucas Paquetá half-volley hitting the side netting.
Fulham were barely out of their own half but punished West Ham mercilessly after taking advantage of a defensive error.
A hopeful punt from Alex Iwobi into the penalty area was not dealt with by Konstantinos Mavropanos, the defender’s heavy touch gifted the ball to Pereira and the Brazilian midfielder rounded Lukasz Fabianski to tap in the empty net.
Buoyed by this breakthrough, Fulham almost doubled their lead with Willian escaping down the left wing and his cross being drilled in by the goalscorer. Pereira almost struck again but his powerful strike was saved by Fabianski. On the other side, Coufal was in a suitable position at the edge of the area but the defender’s half-volley went wide of the target.
Fulham looked increasingly comfortable with their lead and after a period of possession, midfielder João Palhinha curled a shot from just outside the area just past Fabianski’s far post. Willian then forced Fabianski into a save from a tight angle as Fulham pushed for a second goal before the break. Rodrigo Muniz almost extended his lead after latching onto the ball, but his low shot lacked power and Fabianski saved the effort.
Fulham, now 12th, almost scored again early in the second half with Muniz’s impudent strike forcing Fabianski into another save. Willian, so often at the heart of Fulham’s counter-attacks, rushed towards goal before offloading to Iwobi and his powerful shot was superbly palmed around the post by Fabianski.
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West Ham’s attacks became increasingly rare but Paquetá’s header from a corner was blocked by Leno. The ball was eventually passed to Danny Ings, but he volleyed needlessly over the bar.
Fulham doubled their lead, with Pereira again punishing West Ham’s porous defense. Iwobi sent the ball to the unmarked midfielder to head home from close range. Pereira had only scored once this season before this match, but the Brazilian’s brace took his tally to three goals in his last two matches for Fulham at the London Stadium.
Fulham manager Marco Silva said: “It was a great win for us. To be honest, we really deserved the three points. West Ham started better than us, but after scoring the first goal we started to control the game and regain confidence.
There were 11 minutes of added time, following a lengthy delay to bring off 19-year-old West Ham debutant midfielder George Earthy with a head injury.
Moyes said: “I’m really disappointed for George. He is doing very well in training and with the under-21s. He started very well with the ball. He is fine. We think it’s a blow to the head. He’s awake, he went to the hospital but we think he’s okay.
