The battle for control at Craven Cottage was defined by Fulham’s territorial dominance against West Ham’s structural discipline. Fulham held 60 percent of the ball, completing 555 passes at 83 percent accuracy, but that possession rarely destabilised a well-drilled 4-4-2 block. West Ham, with 374 passes at 80 percent, accepted a reduced share of the ball to prioritise verticality and compactness, turning their 40 percent possession into the game’s only goal and a marginally higher overall scoring threat.
Offensively, Fulham’s 4-2-3-1 was built to overload the central lane between the lines. With Tom Cairney and Sander Berge as the double pivot and Joshua King, Alex Iwobi and Samuel Chukwueze behind Raúl Jiménez, the hosts tried to progress through short combinations and half-space rotations. That approach produced volume rather than incision: 13 total shots, 10 from inside the area and 5 on target, but only around one unit of xG, reflecting mostly medium-quality looks. West Ham’s back line and midfield band stayed narrow and aggressive; West Ham’s defense blocked 4 attempts from Fulham, a clear indicator of how often the visitors collapsed around the box to protect central zones.
West Ham’s own attacking plan was more selective but sharper. From their 4-4-2, Callum Wilson and Valentín Castellanos offered depth, while Jarrod Bowen and Crysencio Summerville provided outlet width and transition threat. Despite only 9 shots and 3 on target, West Ham generated slightly more scoring danger overall than Fulham, converting through Summerville on 65 minutes after a Bowen assist – a textbook example of breaking from a compact block into space once Fulham’s structure was stretched by their own pressure.
Defensively, Fulham’s 14 fouls and two late yellow cards (Calvin Bassey for a foul at 90+1, Antonee Robinson for an argument at 90+9) show a side increasingly frustrated and forced into reactive defending as they chased the game. West Ham’s 12 fouls and four bookings underline a more calculated cynicism: Mateus Fernandes (foul, 17), Aaron Wan-Bissaka (simulation, 41), Bowen (time wasting, 90+10) and Mohamadou Kanté (argument, 90+9) all point to a team willing to disrupt rhythm and manage tempo once ahead.
In goal, Mads Hermansen’s 5 saves versus Bernd Leno’s 3 underline where the match was ultimately decided. Both keepers operated at a standard level without needing extraordinary saves, but West Ham’s number one had to absorb more volume as Fulham piled on late pressure.
Substitution patterns reinforce the tactical story. At 60 minutes, Fulham swapped Jiménez for Rodrigo Muniz, then quickly introduced Oscar Bobb and Emile Smith Rowe for Cairney and King on 61, turning the structure into a more aggressive, fluid attacking unit. This was an explicit attacking gamble, sacrificing control in midfield for extra creativity and penalty-box presence. West Ham’s response was conservative: Soungoutou Magassa for Wilson at 60 to bolster midfield legs, then Adama Traoré for Castellanos at 88 and late defensive changes (Konstantinos Mavropanos and Kanté at 90+2) to lock down the lead.
The final verdict: Fulham controlled the ball but not the game’s most dangerous spaces. West Ham’s compact 4-4-2, disciplined blocking and efficient use of transitions allowed them to turn a marginal edge in chance quality into a one-goal win, illustrating a classic case of defensive structure and selective attacking trumping sterile domination.
