Fulham won their penultimate home game of the season over West Ham in a game of little consequence.
Hodgson's side up to 11th in Premier League
Fulham finished their penultimate home game of the season with a 3-2 win over West Ham in a game that spelled little consequences for either side.
Despite the scoreline giving the appearance of an exciting affair, the game's goals came more as a result of seemingly lackadaisical defending in what, for the most part, lacked any real competitive edge, with no player picking up a booking for either team.
With Fulham preparing for their first ever European final in the Europa League against Atletico Madrid in Hamburg, manager Roy Hodgson fielded a weakened side as he looked to keep his heroes of Thursday night's win over Hamburg fresh.
The opening stages of the game however were a stale affair, with both sides knowing there were to be no ramifications of winning or losing the game at any stage.
Clint Dempsey gave the home side the lead out of nothing at the end of a lacklustre first half and an own goal by Carlton Cole put them 2-0 ahead shortly after the restart.
Gianfranco Zola's side managed to respond in the second period, but they were made to pay for poor defending for the Fulham goals.
Cole redeemed himself when he headed West Ham back into the game, but substitute Stefano Okaka put Fulham 3-1 in front from close range in the 79th minute.
An injury-time goal from Guillermo Franco was of little consolation to the visitors.
Full voice
Fulham, with their fans in full voice, began the game in bright fashion but without striker Bobby Zamora their final ball left a lot to be desired.
Zoltan Gera, the hero of their Europa League semi-final triumph over Hamburg, was on the bench and they clearly missed his trickery and incisive passing in the early exchanges.
West Ham, although effectively safe from relegation, failed to offer anything in terms of attacking football.
Goalmouth incidents were at a premium in the opening 10 minutes although Fulham's Erik Nevland and Dempsey posed a threat to the visitors.
In the 21st minute Dempsey put Nevland in the clear but he did not have the pace to reach the ball before the onrushing West Ham goalkeeper Robert Green.
Fulham's European success appeared to have sucked the life out of them although the fans quite rightly made the most of it, chanting "There's only one team in Europe".
Mark Schwarzer produced a fine save to prevent Mark Noble's 20-yard shot from finding the net in the 23rd minute.
Dempsey was just the width of the woodwork away from opening the scoring in the 26th minute when his superb turn and shot from 20 yards hit the bar.
But it was an isolated moment of magic in a poor game. West Ham's passing was disappointing and Fulham could not get into their stride.
In the 40th minute Manuel Da Costa forced Schwarzer into another fine save when the West Ham full-back managed to get some space 25 yards out.
The Fulham defence continued to back off Da Costa and he required no further invitation as he let fly from the angle of the penalty area, but Schwarzer dived to his left to keep the ball from finding the net.
Opener
Dempsey broke the deadlock when he collected a pass from Simon Davies in stoppage-time and fired past Green.
Fulham made it 2-0 in the 58th minute when Cole put through his own goal. Chris Baird's shot was going well wide of the target until it smashed off the shoulder of the West Ham striker and into the net.
But Cole redeemed himself in the 61st minute when he glanced home a free-kick from Scott Parker to reduce the deficit.
The England striker cleverly managed to evade the home defence and gave Schwarzer no chance with a deft header.
Cole then tried his luck from 20 yards as West Ham took the game to the home side for the first time in the afternoon, but his low drive went straight into the arms of Schwarzer.
Fulham, rattled by West Ham's response to going two down, tried to rediscover their earlier verve but the visitors now had the upper hand.
Parker almost got on the end of a knock down by Cole in the 68th minute but he was adjudged to have handled as he moved in on goal.
Fulham made it 3-1 in the 79th minute when Jonathan Spector was caught in possession by Nevland and he crossed for substitute Okaka to fire home from six yards.
Franco scored an injury-time consolation to make the score 3-2, smashing home from near the penalty spot after Parker pulled the ball back.
| Fulham |
Team Statistics |
West Ham United |
| 3 |
Goals |
2 |
| 1 |
1st Half Goals |
0 |
| 2 |
Shots on Target |
5 |
| 2 |
Shots off Target |
3 |
| 3 |
Blocked Shots |
0 |
| 9 |
Corners |
3 |
| 14 |
Fouls |
16 |
| 1 |
Offsides |
3 |
| 0 |
Yellow Cards |
0 |
| 0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
| 77.7 |
Passing Success |
79.1 |
| 24 |
Tackles |
29 |
| 70.8 |
Tackles Success |
69 |
| 49.1 |
Possession |
50.9 |
| 51.3 |
Territorial Advantage |
48.7 |
|
