THE PETULANCE of Andreas Pereira will be giving Marco Silva a few sleepless nights – just as much as another farcical VAR intervention.
A stunning early solo effort from Fulham’s Pereira had him running into his manager’s arms – but will want to keep his distance after giving West Ham a route back into the game.
Having been warned not once but twice to not tangle with Craig Dawson in the box at a corner, Pereira decided to tackle him to the ground as Jarrod Bowen scored from the spot.
It was a moment that sparked the Hammers’ game into life through the brilliant Lucas Paqueta and Gianluca Scamacca as they combined to give their side the lead after the break.
Yet Silva was left pulling his hair out for a second time as VAR’s lengthy delay on a potential handball by Scamacca shows the video officials still don’t know what “clear and obvious” is.
Not that David Moyes will care, especially after Michail Antonio wrapped things up off the bench to take advantage of some comical Cottagers defending.
READ MORE ON FOOTBALL
Two league wins on the bounce for the first time since January is just what the doctor ordered for a Hammers team on the up after a rocky start.
And for the second time in a week, Moyes made nine changes to his starting line-up, having done the same for their Europa Conference League clash away at Anderlecht.
Scamacca, Paqueta and Declan Rice came off the bench in Brussels to inspire their side to a late winner – and all three regained their places back on home soil.
Silva made four alterations from the 4-1 humbling at the hands of Newcastle last weekend.
Most read in Football
Nathaniel Chalobah served his suspension following his early red card against the Toon, while Aleksandar Mitrovic missed out with a foot injury. Carlos Vinicius instead led the line.
And while Palhinha and Antonee Robinson returned to the side, Bobby De Cordova-Reid made the drastic switch from left winger to right-back.
But the Cottagers did not start like a side who had just shipped four goals at home, and were in front after just five minutes thanks to a sumptuous strike of their own.
West Ham themselves began with a confidence that has been missing so far this season, and were caught with too many bodies forward as Declan Rice lost control of a ball in midfield.
Bowen’s slip allowed Neeskens Kebano to scamper away and feed Pereira down the left with only Kurt Zouma to beat but a seemingly-impossible angle.
The Brazilian international made a goal possible with the sweetest of hits that skimmed the face of Lukasz Fabianski and into the far top corner.
JOIN SUN VEGAS: GET A FREE £10 BONUS WITH 100s OF GAMES TO PLAY AND NO DEPOSIT REQUIRED (Ts&Cs apply)
Soon after, Dan James stepped in off his right wing and curled a beauty on to Fabianski’s crossbar when it looked to be dipping just below it.
But coming off the back of two wins in all competitions in five days, Moyes’ men look to be made of sterner stuff and mounted a response through the brilliant Paqueta.
The Samba playmaker announced his £36.4m arrival from Lyon in the summer by posing atop the London Stadium – and today it appeared the pitch belonged to his magic feet.
Paqueta started to impose himself after 15 minutes, serving up two delicious balls into Scamacca only for the Italian to have one header saved by Bernd Leno and drag another shot wide.
The misses aside, Moyes would have been delighted by the link-up between his two new signings – and both were involved in the build-up before they were awarded a penalty.
Paqueta wriggled out of a tight spot and found Pablo Fornals out wide. Aaron Cresswell’s cross then picked out an unmarked Scamacca whose header again was met by Leno.
A corner was won as Bowen’s rebound attempt was blocked, only for Pereira to begin a wrestling match with Dawson three times in the space of 20 seconds.
It was the easiest decision of the afternoon for Kavanagh, booking Pereira – not that it stopped him complaining for the next ten minutes.
Bowen sent Leno the wrong way to make it two goals in his last two Prem games having grabbed his first of the season last Saturday against Wolves.
For a team that has struggled to hit the net since the back end of last year, their forward options are now in red-hot form – as Scamacca proved in the 62nd minute.
Yet again, Paqueta was involved to loop a ball that caught out Fulham’s entire backline, allowing Scamacca to control and then lob Leno.
His celebrations were muted, perhaps knowing he may have been offside and also brushed the ball with the knuckles on his right hand before finishing.
VAR intervened, quickly deducing he was onside before spending an agonising near-three minutes debating whether the ball had been handled, preferring not to send Kavanagh to the monitor.
Read More on The Sun
With the naked eye, it was impossible to say with clarity, but Silva was booked for his animated touchline reaction to the goal finally being given.
Antonio bundled a third home in injury time thanks to some laughable attempts to stop him, not that Silva will have a smile on his face in the coming days.
Here’s how the drama unfolded at the London Stadium…
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
