West Ham were knocked out of the Carabao Cup by Fulham last night, and for me the gulf between the Championship and the Premier League was laid bare. Fulham are still hunting for their first Premier League win and, although widely seen as one of the division’s weaker sides, dominated with 62% possession.
Nuno handed starts to Finlay Herrick in goal and Josh Ajala, but the numbers summed up the evening with eleven shots, only three on target. It was an uphill slog from the outset.
West Ham Fight Back Twice
Fulham landed the opener after West Ham’s poor defending allowed Muniz to head home from close range. The Hammers did respond well, with Morato powering in a header moments later to level the score.
But Fulham struck again on 37 minutes when Palacios put the ball past Herrick. West Ham at least went into the break with hope, thanks to Pablo Felipe, who smashed home his first goal for us since arriving from Gil Vicente in January 2026. His EFL record now reads two games, one goal, one assist, a substantial improvement on his overall record. Let’s hope it’s a turning point!
The decisive moment came on 78 minutes, when Oscar Bobb, who recently arrived from Manchester City, tucked away his first Fulham goal to seal the win.
West Ham fought, but they were fighting uphill all night. And to cap it off, Taty Castellanos missed a golden chance late on to bring the game level and force a penalty shootout.
Nuno Admits Defensive Errors
Nuno, after the game, acknowledged there were defensive errors by his team and said, “Overall we made mistakes, they punished it, but we had good moments and the players stepped in and did good performances. The way we conceded, there is improvement to be made.”
The Hammers now need to focus on another London derby this weekend, one which is far more significant, with the visit to Millwall, the first time since September 17th 2011, which ended in a nil-nil draw.
COYI!
Kilman has found his level
Everyone knows it
Except it would seem Nuno
Fulham may be winless but I don’t think that will be the case for long and they will start moving up the premier league. They’ve had a few tough games and done well in them but not got a win. So I don’t think we can say there is a massive divide.
Are many of us that bothered that we are out of the Carabou cup. It’s a bit like the Europa conference. It’s not a great competition and really only enjoyable if you win it and so many of the big clubs now take it very serious towards the later rounds, so difficult to win.
If we can get a result at the new den on Saturday that will be a great tonic.