Woeful Fulham crushed by West Ham

West Ham 3 Fulham 0

Dimitar Berbatov made his Fulham debut but it was West Ham new boy Andy Carroll who stole the show at Upton Park.

Berbatov, a deadline-day arrival from Manchester United, came on as a substitute at half-time – with the Whites already 3-0 down after being torn to shreds in the opening 45 minutes.

Carroll, signed on loan from Liverpool, played a pivotal role in the east London side going ahead after only 54 seconds.

Ricardo Vaz Te collected the England striker’s flick and laid the ball across to an unmarked Kevin Nolan, who fired into the corner of the net.

Kieran Richardson had a poor Fulham debut although he did bring a save from keeper Jussi Jaaskelainen with a long-range drive, before West Ham almost doubled their lead.

Again Carroll was in the thick of the action, this time nodding down to Mohamed Diame, who smashed a shot against the bar.

Keeper Mark Schwarzer produced a near-post save to deny Vaz Te, but was unable to rescue Fulham when Mahamadou Diarra allowed Winston Reid to get in front of him and head home Matt Taylor’s 29th-minute corner.

Taylor then added the third, rifling in the loose ball after Brede Hangeland had partially cleared another high ball towards Carroll.

Fulham improved after the interval – they could hardly have got worse – and their cause was helped by Carroll going off on 68 minutes with what appeared to be a hamstring problem.

Knowing the points were secure, West Ham were sloppy at times and Jaaskelainen had to be alert to push an effort from Hugo Rodallega onto the post and keep out shots from Steve Sidwell and Damien Duff.

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