Fulham 1-2 West Ham United

Two goals in the final three minutes of the first half turned out to be decisive.

Cole opened the scoring, tapping the ball into an empty net on 43 minutes following Etherington's low cross.

Etherington made it 2-0 two minutes later, latching onto Mark Noble's pass.

Fulham were back in the match on the hour mark thanks to Danny Murphy's penalty, but the ten men couldn't find an equaliser.


Fulham boss Roy Hodgson:
"I am amazed that we have lost because we created lots of opportunities.

"If you look at the possession statistics and that of the chances created it would be on our favour.

"If I could dismiss those three or four minutes when we conceded two goals and had a man sent off.

"Our work-rate after the break when we were down to 10 men was exceptional and we still created chances."


West Ham boss Gianfranco Zola:

"I think it wasn't luck, I think we played a good match. There was only one team that deserved to win and I'm pleased that it was West Ham.

"We kept our composure and in the end of the day, we came away with three points and nobody can say we didn't deserve it.

"After the week we've had, a victory like this away from home will give the players a lot of confidence

"I've been working with these players for two weeks now and I can't ask any more than what they are already doing."

Fulham: Schwarzer, Pantsil, Hughes, Hangeland, Konchesky, Gera, Murphy, Bullard, Davies, Johnson, Zamora.

Subs Not Used: Zuberbuhler, Ki-Hyeon, Nevland, Dempsey,Andreasen, Kallio, Baird.

Sent Off: Johnson (45).

Booked: Johnson, Konchesky, Murphy, Hangeland.

Goals: Murphy 59 pen.

West Ham: Green, Faubert, Neill, Upson, Ilunga, Behrami, Parker (Boa Morte 90), Noble, Etherington (Mullins 80), Cole, Di Michele (Bellamy 74).

Subs Not Used: Lastuvka, Lopez, Davenport, Sears.

Booked: Parker.

Goals: Cole 43, Etherington 45.

Att: 23,946

Ref: Andre Marriner (W Midlands).