Super Eagles midfielder, Alex Iwobi netted a brace as West Ham United secured a 3-2 win over Fulham in their Premier League clash on Tuesday, marking the debut of new manager Graham Potter.
Despite a dominant performance by Fulham, who controlled the flow of the match, the hosts benefited from defensive lapses by their London rivals.
Fulham, who were the better side for much of the match, gifted West Ham two goals, with Lucas Paquetá’s strike ultimately proving to be the decisive one.
“We had to ride our luck at times and had to suffer, but we scored three goals,” Potter, who took over from Julen Lopetegui last week, reflected after the match. “It was a real team effort, and considering the players we’ve got missing, it’s a fantastic three points.”
The game saw a surprise opening goal from Carlos Soler in the 31st minute, when Fulham’s Andreas Pereira misfired a pass, allowing Soler to score with a superb first-time finish.
Just two minutes later, West Ham doubled their lead as Tomás Soucek pounced on a great pull-back from Aaron Wan-Bissaka to fire home.
Fulham responded early in the second half when Iwobi’s cross, intended for Raúl Jiménez, caught the West Ham goalkeeper, Lukasz Fabianski, off guard and ended up in the back of the net.
However, Fulham’s defensive woes continued as goalkeeper Bernd Leno was dispossessed by Danny Ings, leading to Paquetá’s easy finish into an empty net.
Iwobi scored again with an almost identical effort to his first, pulling Fulham back into the match.
Despite a late surge from the visitors, which included a missed chance from Adama Traore, West Ham held on for a vital victory.
“When you make mistakes like we did, it’s very difficult to win football matches,” Fulham manager Marco Silva commented. “There was only one team that was on the pitch trying to win the game until we conceded that first goal that we gave them.”
West Ham’s win lifted them to 12th place with 26 points, while Fulham, suffering their first defeat in nine matches, remained in ninth with 30 points.
