Thursday Fulham Stuff - 05/03/26...

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Results

Wednesday 04/03
Villa	1-4	Chelsea
Brighton	0-1	Arsenal
Fulham	0-1	West Ham
Man City	2-2	Forest
Newcastle	2-1	Man Utd

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Fulham 0-1 West Ham United

At a glance

    Crysencio Summerville scores the only goal of the game to seal vital win for West Ham

    The winger's strike comes after both sides had penalty appeals waved away

    West Ham move level on points with Nottingham Forest, while Fulham slip to 10th

Crysencio Summerville scored the only goal of the game as West Ham boosted their hopes of Premier League survival with a hard-fought win against Fulham at Craven Cottage.

The Dutchman pounced on a lapse in communication between Bernd Leno and Calvin Bassey shortly after the hour mark to earn the struggling Hammers only a seventh win of the Premier League season.

After Nottingham Forest's 2-2 draw with Manchester City on the same night, the three points moves Nuno Espirito Santo's side level on points with the Midlands club who sit in 17th place.

The defeat is a blow for Fulham's hopes of qualifying for Europe as they slip to 10th after failing to capitalise on Liverpool and Bournemouth's dropped points 24 hours earlier.

With Fulham missing talisman Harry Wilson and West Ham among the lowest scorers in the Premier League, the first half drifted towards a stalemate before sparking into life late on at Craven Cottage.

Valentin Castellanos and Samuel Chukwueze exchanged efforts inside the opening five minutes, while the Hammers had a penalty appeal waved away when Jarrod Bowen's corner struck the shoulder of Alex Iwobi.

But the contest finally burst into action in the closing moments of the half when West Ham midfielder Mateus Fernandes narrowly avoided a second yellow card for a foul on Joshua King.

King should have opened his account in the Premier League seconds later as his shot was saved by Mads Hermansen after stealing a yard on Tomas Soucek inside the box.

Fulham were then awarded a penalty four minutes into the second half when Tom Cairney went to ground under a challenge from Castellanos

However, referee Matt Donohue overturned the decision after consulting the pitch-side monitor, ruling that Cairney had in fact kicked the West Ham forward.

The breakthrough came in the 65th minute when Summerville took advantage of a mix-up between Leno and Bassey before finishing coolly for his fifth goal of the campaign.

Hermansen produced a stunning save four minutes from time to deny Timothy Castagne and earn his side a precious derby victory.

Fulham analysis: A bad night from start to finish
For Fulham, it was a night that began badly and never truly recovered.

The pre-match news that Harry Wilson would miss out through injury heightened the challenge facing Marco Silva's side.

The 28-year-old Wales international has been a talismanic figure for the Whites this season.

Wilson is the first Fulham player since Dimitar Berbatov in 2012-13 to register 15 goal contributions in a single campaign, so his absence was always likely to be felt.

But with his contract set to expire this summer, Wednesday night offered a glimpse of what life without him could look like at Craven Cottage.

On the basis of this performance, Silva's side will need to find new source of attacking threat in the final third if they are to continue to fight for Europe.

West Ham analysis: Summerville offers Hammers a glimmer of hope
On a night when West Ham unveiled a new-look strike partnership, it was Summerville who grabbed the headlines.

For the first time since December, Nuno opted for a front two - Castellanos and Callum Wilson - in an attempt to spark his side's survival bid.

But it was Summerville who continued his mission to keep the Hammers afloat, finishing with the composure of a veteran at Craven Cottage.

Since the turn of the year, the 24-year-old has scored seven of West Ham's 17 goals in all competitions - with five of them coming in the Premier League.

After a difficult first 18 months following his £25m move from Leeds in 2024, the winger has emerged as a beacon of hope for Hammers supporters in recent weeks.

For 14 minutes on Wednesday night, his strike had lifted his side out of the relegation zone - at Nottingham Forest's expense - for the first time since December.

Although Forest later fought back to claim a point against Manchester City at the Etihad, West Ham have the Midlands club in their sights and are only a point behind Tottenham who host Crystal Palace on Thursday.

If the Hammers are to beat the drop and preserve their Premier League status, Summerville is likely to have a decisive say.



https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/live/c5yj4xy8kl8t

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Post-West Ham Press Conference
Marco Silva was disappointed that his Fulham side came out on the wrong end of a tight and cagey affair against West Ham.

The game looked to be heading for a goalless draw, but a defensive mix up was punished by Crysencio Summerville with 25 minutes to play.

Despite the tight nature of the game, Silva acknowledged that his side fell short of the levels they're capable of showing.

"Tight game," Silva said. "To be honest, there were not many chances, but at the end of the first half they had one with (Callum) Wilson, and we had that big, big chance with Josh (King), that we should have scored.

"We had moments around their box, but nothing really dangerous apart from that moment. The game was tight, as I said. Second half, we started well. In the last 30 minutes, we made some changes to have a big impact on the game, and we conceded minutes after.

"We gave the goal away and it was much more difficult. We took a bit of time to react. We lost a game that we shouldn't (have), that is clear for me.

"There were not many chances. It wasn't a performance like last Sunday from ourselves, not at the same level. The moment we almost equalised (through Timothy Castagne) was a great save from the goalkeeper and that made an impact. It's a disappointing evening for us."



https://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2026/march/04/post-west-ham-utd-press-conference/

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



https://www.capitalfootball.co.uk/single-post/fulham-v-west-ham

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Fulham beaten at home by West Ham
Fulham's hopes of securing a European spot suffered a setback as they were beaten by relegation-threatened West Ham.

A second-half Crysencio Summerville goal was enough to earn the visitors all three points.

Despite having won their previous three games, Marco Silva's side began nervously, with the Hammers aggressive going forward across a largely uneventful opening half.

Fulham keeper Bernd Leno was alert to save well from a Tomas Soucek header at the start of the second half.

And the hosts were controversially denied a penalty by VAR when Tom Cairney was adjudged to have kicked Valentin Castellanos while preparing to shoot from just inside the penalty area.

West Ham broke the deadlock in the 65th minute. Leno was caught outside his penalty area and failed to clear the ball, which was picked up by Summerville, who evaded the attention of Sander Berge to confidently sweep the ball into the net.
Fulham: Leno, Tete (Castagne 82), Diop, Bassey, Robinson, Berge (Sessegnon 82), Cairney (Bobb 60), Chukwueze, King (Smith Rowe 60), Iwobi, Jimenez (Muniz 60)
Subs not used: Lecomte, Andersen, Reed, Lukic.



https://www.westlondonsport.com/fulham/football-fulham-v-west-ham-summerville-winner

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Harry Wilson injury update after Fulham defeat to West Ham
Marco Silva has played down the severity of Harry Wilson's ankle injury after the midfielder missed Fulham's Premier League defeat to West Ham on Wednesday.

Wilson was forced off with an ankle injury in the second half of Fulham's 2-1 win at home to Tottenham last Sunday.

The 28-year-old, who has nine goals and six assists in the Premier League this season, was then left out of Fulham's matchday squad for West Ham's visit to Craven Cottage on Wednesday night.

When asked about Wilson's absence before kick-off against West Ham, Silva said: 'It doesn't look really serious.

It was impossible for this game for him to be in contention. The games are coming thick and fast and the space between the games was not the normal one.

'After some exams and treatment he wasn't in the position to be involved.'

Crysencio Summerville's second-half strike sealed a much-needed 1-0 win for West Ham, who remain 18th in the Premier League but are now level on points with 17th-placed Nottingham Forest and only one behind Tottenham.

Fulham, meanwhile, are next in action in the FA Cup fifth round where they host Southampton at Craven Cottage on Sunday.



https://metro.co.uk/2026/03/04/harry-wilson-injury-update-fulham-defeat-west-ham-27230827/?ito=newsnow-feed

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Fulham 0-1 West Ham: Crysencio Summerville steps up for Nuno Espirito Santo's side AGAIN as Hammers survival bid receives major boost - and the Chelsea outcast who has proved a critical addition
If West Ham stay up in May, their scrapbook will be filled with photos of Crysencio Summerville smiling. Forget the photos of regret that were beginning to fill tonight's page. The winger has every reason to beam.

Here, after a largely anonymous 65 minutes, the Dutchman turned up with his Sharpie and scribbled his name into the mist shrouding Craven Cottage. This was his night.

How much bottle do you have, Spurs and Forest? West Ham are now level on points with the latter and their current performances are only pointing upwards - though they remain in the bottom three for now.

This was their first win in four, but their fourth in the last eight. It was their third clean sheet in five games - a remarkable turnaround for the league's second-worst defence - and their first victory over a top-half team in 15 attempts. At this rate, and with displays like this, they will be toasting salvation come the end of the season.

Summerville shines again
The Summerville show is back on. This was the Summerville of a few weeks back, who scored in four consecutive Premier League games and had us wondering if anyone could stop him.

This wasn't the Dutchman's loudest night, but he stepped up when it mattered.

It was, in truth, beginning to look like West Ham had got lost on the banks of the River Thames this evening. Jarrod Bowen might have had a hat-trick. Taty Castellanos went close. Callum Wilson and Tomas Soucek will have had nightmares about both missing the ball at the back post. Until Summerville bailed them out, that is.

Fulham goalkeeper Bernd Leno marked his 34th birthday with an almighty muddle with Calvin Bassey, and West Ham punished them. Bowen did brilliantly to slide the ball to Summerville, who still had work to do and held his nerve.

Not only can he save West Ham - he's making an increasingly persuasive case for a seat on the Netherlands' World Cup plane.

Fulham boss Silva could only shrug. '[It was] much more difficult with the time to react to go again,' he said. 'We lost a game that we shouldn't have lost.'
 
Disasi a shrewd signing
Axel Disasi has been an inspired loan signing. West Ham needed a deal sheet to get it done on deadline day, and if we were still using fax machines, you fear he'd still be in Chelsea's basement or wherever Enzo Maresca had locked him and his fellow castaways.

He was assertive again here, snuffing out Raul Jimenez and doing well to defuse Josh King's explosive runs. He hadn't played for nine months before joining but he looks as sharp as a Gillette razor – the best West Ham can get.

The main plus for West Ham is how he puts his body on the line. At one point he went tumbling over the advertising hoardings after a fierce battle with Jimenez; on the stroke of half-time he took a free-kick in the face from the Mexican. He's clearly not just here for a pay check. He's on a mission to save West Ham and his own Premier League career.

Nuno Espirito Santo twisted the dial on the time machine and took us back to the 1990s with a 4-4-2. Rather than look rigid and obsolete, it suited the Hammers to a tee.

Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Bowen had a ball overlapping and underlapping on the right flank, whipping in crosses.

A major criticism of the formation is that it leaves the midfield outnumbered against three-man systems, but Taty Castellanos and Wilson were industrious tracking back, so they got away with it.

It's testament to their improving organisation that West Ham yet another clean sheet. The Hammers have conceded more than everyone besides Burnley and thrown away more points from winning positions than anyone else, but they were well-drilled here. Jean-Clair Todibo recorded nine clearances. Wan-Bissaka added seven. No-nonsense was the name of the game and it worked.

'We've been more resilient and more organised. Our defensive organisation has been strong enough to allow players to press. We are improving slowly,' said Nuno.



https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-15613911/Fulham-vs-West-Ham.html

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Defensive disaster earns Summerville winner in miserable 1-0 loss for Fulham
West Ham claim crucial three points in relegation battle; Fulham listless and poor all evening

What is consistency? Cambridge's Dictionary defines it as "the quality of always behaving or performing in a similar way". Perhaps Marco Silva ought to tape it somewhere in the Fulham dressing room - today's setback, a deeply unremarkable 1-0 defeat to relegation-threatened West Ham, demonstrates quite effectively that it is an asset lost on this squad of players. Summerville's goal, whatever the talents of the player, was a calamitous piece of defending from Leno and Berge, and the football played around it offered a cruel reminder that Fulham can't sustain their efforts over a significant run of games. Our win over Tottenham, only three days ago, may well have taken place in a fugue state on this evidence...

First Half
Onlookers might have been enticed by the opening minutes of the game, featuring Bowen bustling down the right, finding Castellanos in the centre and the Argentine guide a speculative shot goalwards, forcing Leno into an unwieldy punch away. A nice link-up with Iwobi and Robinson on the left produced a cross that, whilst unthreatening, raised the early excitement, and a few moments later a couple of chances fell at our feet. Berge dispossessing Callum Wilson on the halfway line led to a neat one-two between Chukwueze and King on the right of the box, that the Nigerian tamely put at Hermansen's lap, and a botched clearance from Todibo let Robinson guide the ball back into the box for King, tucked cleverly between Disasi and Diouf - sadly, he steered his effort wide of the post.

And then, the game fell into a lull. Much of Fulham's play was decent, but the polish we displayed against Tottenham on the weekend was absent. Perhaps this was a consequence of making so many changes, but the end result was a litany of what-ifs, players piecing together the beginnings of killer moves with a nifty turn, clever touch, insightful pass, only for the next piece in the puzzle to fall flat, and the attack dissipate entirely. Berge and Raul both led promising counter-attacks charging at goal but scuffed passes intended for their wingers' run. Chukwueze breezed down the right with style, but continually lost King on his radar and gave the defender enough to nullify the thread. King himself was lively, tenacious in his dribbles and movement going forward, but unfortunately lacked the muscle to outgun Disasi and Todibo once he reached the box.

The result was a dearth of actual action in the box for Fulham, and a window of opportunity for the visitors to take initiative in the face of us losing the ball. In some respect this was what the 4-4-2 was designed to do for West Ham - a tough set of defenders, Soucek and Fernandes marshalling the space ahead of them, and the creativity of Bowen and pace of Summerville the tools to quickly work the ball to the Wilson-Castellanos duo both playing up front. Did it work out? Bowen certainly played an intelligent game, keeping an eye on Robinson's marauding runs and using them to pull our backline apart, and on the other wing Diouf's speed proved a constant threat for Tete to manage. They won a few set-pieces across the half and certainly wore the shape of a side ready to steal three points away from home.

But this productivity was undone by the execution of the plan, the lethargy that seemed to haunt much of their play. Wan-Bissaka overlapping Bowen produced a combination between the two, laid off by Castellanos upon receiving the cross from the right and seeing Bowen drill a shot into Diop. Other than a nervy wait for VAR to declare Iwobi's clearance out a non-handball, nothing came of it - the team lacked the energy to get into the box, allowing Bassey and Diop to stand firm and keep the visitors playing well out of Leno's danger zone.

With Berge and Cairney working nicely to move deeper and support the backline, West Ham found themselves shunted sidewards - the movement of the strikers needed to be quicker to offer the killer angle, but seldom was, and the few times moves fell into shooting distance they were wasted. Bowen wasted a lively counterattack by taking a good pass from Castellanos to a free right channel and smacking it wide of goal. Later, the captain did very well to drag Robinson out of position on the touchline, allowing Wan Bissaka to overlap, similarly taking Bassey away from the strikers he was covering... but the move was annulled when Wilson's shot sailed comfortably over the bar.

There was a bit of excitement at the very end of the half though. Following Wilson's missed effort, a move down the left through Robinson let Cairney move the ball through to the centre, where King latched onto it in space. He flew towards the box at speed, but as he tried to pull the trigger got impeded by the foot of Fernandes, who'd come across to stop the move. The referee gave a foul, irking both sets of players - Fulham wanted a second yellow, the midfielder booked earlier for holding back Iwobi on a break, whilst the visitors didn't believe King should even have been awarded a free kick. Raul spanked the kick straight into the wall, but more egregious was the corner that followed, where a short routine eventually saw Tete bend the ball into the box, King spin brilliantly away from the congregation to finally create a chance in the heart of the goal... and put his effort too low and straight, giving Hermansen the chance to be the hero for the visitors, which he duly took with a fine save. We'd run out of time - the half-time whistle followed his heroics.

Second Half
A dry 0-0 for the first 45 minutes, but again the kick-off instigated a quick set of play. From a Bowen corner, West Ham saw a Soucek header tipped over the bar by a sprawling dive from Leno. Moments later, Iwobi seized an opportunity to utilise space behind a wayward Wan Bissaka, cruising down the left towards the goal. His ball into the middle was poor, but Soucek failed to cut it out, and it travelled slowly to Cairney, poised to shoot. He tried to strike the ball, but saw his kick impeded by Castellanos, a la King earlier - the referee awarded the penalty. Yet VAR came to West Ham's rescue - quite blatantly, Cairney had kicked the Argentine, and no degree of refereeing discretion could save us from losing the spot-kick.

West Ham were bustling around with more intent though, and some warning signs were laid for Fulham. Summerville, who'd been quiet in the first half, started doing more to put his pace into action, cutting inside to cause trouble around the pitch. This had the combined effect of winning set-pieces for the visitors, always a danger given the physicality of the side, and freeing up other players to use the space he created, shifting the focus of play more into our half. A nervy spell saw West Ham force us into a series of scuffed clearances, the last of which let Soucek take Iwobi's hoof, play it into Wan-Bissaka, who pumped a pass into Bowen, and saw the captain turn Bassey and fire a low shot that Leno had to dive to save (though it was marginally offside). Minutes later, Summerville cut inside away from Tete and crossed a ball into the box - it arched beautifully behind our defence but Wilson and Soucek couldn't work out who was striking the ball and it sailed out of play.

We needed changes, and Silva had them - Cairney and Jimenez had faded from relevance in the game, and though King was unfortunate to join them the promise of Smith Rowe, Muniz and Bobb being on the pitch together was an enticing one, particularly with Iwobi moved back to the centre. But West Ham had also switched their approach, an ineffective Wilson taken off for defensive midfielder Magassa. Our time on the ball now met a tougher approach, with a player fixed to the DM role to allow Soucek and Fernandes the flexibility to move around more fluidly, in turn producing more moments of interplay between the frontline of Summerville, Castellanos and Bowen.

But we'd realise this hardship later. Instead, misfortune at either end of the pitch produced a lead for West Ham in entirely avoidable circumstances, and a reminder that Premier League football can't be taken for granted. Chukwueze's creativity produced a corner, which on Iwobi's second attempt flew over everyone towards the far post... yet Smith Rowe, needing only a tap-in to open the scoring, put an uncoordinated touch straight into the path of Hermansen's welcome hands. And right afterwards, disaster: a ball forward from Fernandes bounced towards Leno, too far for Bowen to reach, was met with a loose, vacant touch from the keeper. The world expected him to boot it clear, or pass it elsewhere - he instead backed away, confusing Bassey and offering an opportunity to Bowen. Ever persistent, the England man quickly nipped in and dinked it to Summerville, who travelled goalward, took a touch to move it out of the incoming Berge's path, spotted Leno miles off his line and curled the ball into the open net from outside the box. The lead was theirs - the shame was ours.

Perhaps the goal would offer motivation for a comeback? Muniz managed to win a free kick against Disasi in a suitable position, and though it only led to Iwobi slicing the ball over with a volley, we were seeing more of the ball than prior to the goal. Yet our momentum was deflated really effectively by West Ham, who had Magassa on the pitch disrupting play and helping the team shut down the space available. Of course, just as revelatory was the substandard football Fulham were playing. Bobb showed promise on the right, using his intuition to feed Tete an overlap that led to an opportunity for Muniz, albeit in the form of a cross he headed over. But the others struggled to impart a real footprint on the shape of the game. Smith Rowe had a poor cameo, barely able to connect his passes coherently and lacking in spark. The service into the box was lacklustre, deliveries too short to clear the first man or too deep to produce anything to test the keeper. It was fodder for Todibo, Disasi and co to clear - even with Sessegnon and Castagne introduced later in the game, Muniz seldom had a chance to get on the ball in the box.

Castagne, to his credit, injected a little energy into the game, turning a head-tennis situation from a corner into a shooting opportunity and firing some of the only decent balls into the box during a tiresome stoppage time period. Hermansen stood tall to repel them both, pushing Castagne's bending effort away from the target with a strong hand, and leaping well under pressure to stop Bassey, and then Muniz from the follow-up, from eking out a late equaliser. West Ham were the stronger side though - they managed the game well, bringing on an army of substitutes late on to wrestle us out of the contest, eating time away with runs into our half and cheap free-kicks, and it was enough to see out the lengthy stoppages and earn themselves a crucial three points.

Can West Ham beat the drop?
We'll drop the negativity for a moment to focus on the visitors, who are fighting a tense relegation battle (against two sides competing in Europe, no less!) and truly earnt their three points. As egregious as the Leno/Berge antics were, the making of the goal was in what the team did across the game. Nuno deserves credit for his management - he recognised that the tactics West Ham started the game with weren't working, took a poor Wilson off to rebalance the shape, and revitalised Summerville, whose creativity and energy produced the match-winning moment. Every goal, through varying degrees, is capitalising off someone's mistake - today's was simply more obvious a set of errors.

There's a lot of worry to be had for the teams in this battle - West Ham were marked as dead and buried by many earlier in the season, but whilst Fulham are thankfully out of sight of the relegation chaos my fears were never allayed by the Hammers' poor start. Nuno is a resolute manager that worked excellently with squads at Wolves and Nottingham Forest - he has turned a shambolic defence into a competent one, certainly one capable of sterilising our attack today, and whilst they aren't quite the Barcelona of a decade-or-so ago going forward, Summerville and Bowen were a real handful working their trade around the frontline. Magassa was the balancing act needed to make it all click - everyone on the team, be it Fernandes, Soucek or Castellanos, looked better with him on the pitch. And with a team playing with a touch of confidence, you get goalkeepers that keep clean sheets. Hermansen had a brilliant evening, with vital saves from King and Castagne in either half the highlights of a solid display, and if he can keep his hands as firm as today, the team will be in good stead moving forward in their fight for survival.

Lenoh-no
However, the elephant in the room remains the Fulham performance, or lack thereof. We were passive and apathetic across the game, to the point that a West Ham side we are supposedly much better than were able to wrestle themselves into ascendency in the game, and a truly rancid piece of defending gifted our opponents a lead, one we never seriously looked capable of overturning. It's not the first time we've felt this following a Fulham match - there are far too many matches where the squad look ordinary and mediocre, often right after top outings.

Let's start with the goal, the nadir of the night. Leno has had a few question marks raised over his set-piece competency, and horrible moments like this don't help his case. You wonder why he'd saunter out of goal if he wasn't going to completely eliminate the danger - the keeper absolutely has to take control if he's going to leave his box, and he instead creates the crisis at the back. Berge also needs to look in the mirror here - the point of a defensive midfielder is to contribute defensively, and he charges in and out of the play to such a degree that Summerville only has Leno's position to worry about for the remainder of the move. We'd wobbled earlier in the half, with Cairney struggling to match the increased West Ham tempo and Robinson and Tete given some tests on the wings with the enthusiasm of Summerville and Bowen, but the goal changed the nature of the game, and settled Nuno's team into a defensive situation they were all-too-happy to adopt.

There were broader problems in attack. Berge really struggled to energise the midfield, which with an ailing Cairney as his partner made it quite easy for West Ham to absorb. The passing was really poor - Chukwueze's inconsistency made it incredibly hard for his teammates to work with, Iwobi's radar wasn't on song being so far out on the wings, and whilst Robinson had a few lively runs his end-product was rarely worth the damage it caused at the other end, where Bowen could drill himself into Bassey's exposed area. Raul and King worked hard but were asked to do too much against much stronger opponents, and Bobb aside the substitutes couldn't apply the composure to work around a tough defence fortifying their territory. The result? An ugly zero in our goal tally.

Maybe we should offer a slight defence? The team are juggling injuries - we lost the magic of Wilson to this (who might have scored at least one of the chances Hermansen stopped) - and most sides struggle in the face of a wave of changes. Diop had another decent match, as did Bassey, and whilst the team weren't great tonight had Leno's mind lapse not taken place the score could justifiably have finished 0-0 - West Ham did not humiliate us by any means. But this just makes the situation more frustrating - in a season that may yet represent the best chance mid-table sides have at clawing themselves into European football, we continually fail to seize the initiative, and look set to let sides like Brentford, Everton, Bournemouth, Sunderland claim a place our squad are more than capable of seizing for themselves.

With only nine games to go, it's make or break time for Fulham in the league - and perhaps Marco Silva as well. Round 5 of the FA Cup this weekend may potentially be our final chance to win a trophy with Silva at the helm - one can only hope the players were so lackadaisical today to save their A-game for this, because Southampton will eye an upset if our football matches tonight's miserly display.



https://www.fulhamish.co.uk/p/defensive-disaster-earns-summerville

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Fulham 0-1 West Ham: Hammers pile pressure on Tottenham with huge win in relegation dogfight
Spurs take on Crystal Palace in crunch clash on Thursday

Crysencio Summerville continued his one-man mission to save West Ham with the goal which sank Fulham 1-0.

The in-form Dutch winger pounced on a dreadful mistake from Fulham goalkeeper Bernd Leno for his seventh goal in his last 10 appearances.

Three crucial points at Craven Cottage moved the Hammers level with 17th-placed Nottingham Forest, leaving them in the relegation zone only on goal difference.

And if Tottenham wanted further proof that they are also deep in the relegation battle, West Ham and Forest are now just a point behind them.

West Ham arrived in west London with plenty of attacking intent and there were just 30 seconds on the clock when Jarrod Bowen burst forward and fed Taty Castellanos, whose first-time shot was clawed away by Leno.

England World Cup hopeful Bowen was then teed up by Castellanos, but his shot was deflected wide, while the Hammers captain sliced another half chance well off target.

Fulham, hunting for a third straight win but without nine-goal winger Harry Wilson due to an ankle injury, looked to Josh King for inspiration and twice the teenager was denied by last-ditch interceptions from Axel Disasi and Tomas Soucek.

Alex Iwobi saw a couple of long-range efforts saved by Mads Hermansen before, on the stroke of half-time, the Hammers keeper stuck out a leg to divert King's snap-shot behind.

West Ham almost broke the deadlock seconds after the restart but Leno superbly tipped a Soucek header over the crossbar.

At the other end, there was a moment of mild controversy when Fulham were awarded a penalty by referee Matthew Donohue for a foul on Tom Cairney.

However, a VAR review clearly showed the Fulham skipper had kicked the calf of Castellanos and, after a quick trip to the screen, Dononue reversed his decision.

The visitors were building up a head of steam, though, and Leno had to be on his toes to prevent a Samuel Chukwueze own goal before Callum Wilson and Soucek just failed to get on the end of Summerville's cross at the far post.

Fulham almost snatched the lead when Iwobi's cross found substitute Emile Smith Rowe at the far post, but his finish was poor.

And moments later Leno suffered his rush of blood, charging out of his area to intercept a through-ball only to gift it to Bowen.

Bowen tapped the ball to Summerville, who steadied himself before finishing into an empty net.

Fulham, still in with a shout of a European place, tried to hit back but Iwobi and Rodrigo Muniz both fired narrowly over and Hermansen made a fine save in stoppage time to deny Smith Rowe as West Ham held on for what could be a critical victory.



https://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/fulham-fc-west-ham-tottenham-relegation-pressure-b1273534.html

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Three April fixtures televised
Three of Fulham's Premier League fixtures in April have new kick-off times after being selected for live television coverage.

Our trip to Anfield on Saturday 11th April will now commence at 5.30pm and be shown on Sky Sports, while our matches against Brentford at the Gtech (Saturday 18th April) and Aston Villa at the Cottage (Saturday 25th April) will be early 12.30pm kick-offs, shown on TNT Sports.



https://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2026/march/04/three-april-fixtures-televised/

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Silva expects Wilson to return for Fulham soon
Marco Silva says Harry Wilson's ankle problem does not look serious, despite the Fulham star missing the 1-0 defeat against West Ham.

Wilson missed out after suffering the injury during Sunday's home win against Tottenham.

But boss Silva believes the winger will be available again soon.

"Doesn't look serious really. The game came very quickly from the last game, on Sunday. Not enough time for him to recover from that moment," Silva explained.

"We did some exams and it didn't look anything serious. Of course we miss him, like we miss Kevin too. Of course they are two big tools for us.

"He's always capable of scoring, he's always capable of creating moments for us. The others, they have enough quality to step in and to show their quality."

Silva made four changes from Sunday's game and saw his team suffer a setback in their quest for a European place.

"We lost a game that we shouldn't have. It was a disappointing night for us," he admitted.



https://www.westlondonsport.com/fulham/silva-expects-wilson-to-return-for-fulham-soon

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Fulham: Marco Silva issues Harry Wilson injury update after star misses West Ham defeat
Welshman was not involved in West Ham defeat on Wednesday

Marco Silva has allayed fears over Harry Wilson's injury after the winger missed Fulham's 1-0 defeat by West Ham on Wednesday.

The Cottagers were beaten by their London rivals through Crysencio Summerville's goal that earned the Hammers all three points at Craven Cottage.

The win for Nuno Espirito Santo's side piles pressure on Tottenham, sat just above the relegation zone, as Igor Tudor's men take on Crystal Palace on Thursday.

As for Fulham, the loss dents their outside hopes of European football, and Wilson's absence was felt off the right flank.

However, Silva emphasised that the Welshman's injury "doesn't look really serious".

He continued: "It was impossible for this game for him to be in contention. The games are coming thick and fast and the space between the games was not the normal one.

'After some exams and treatment he wasn't in the position to be involved."

The winger is Fulham's top scorer this term with nine goals in 27 Premier League games, adding six assists to that tally.

Joachim Andersen returned to the side after missing the 2-1 win over Tottenham last weekend through illness.

The Cottagers' defeat seems them lying in 10th place in the Premier League table, eight points off the top five and 12 clear of relegation trouble.

The west London club host Southampton in the FA Cup fifth round this weekend, before they travel to Nottingham Forest.

A home encounter against Burnley rounds off the month.



https://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/fulham-fc-silva-wilson-injury-update-b1273542.html