Player Ratings: West Ham 0-1 Fulham

The scores after our win at the London Stadium

Three league wins in the row, all without some of our best players. It’s been a Christmas to remember for FFC, here are the scores on the doors after our win in East London

Bernd Leno

Made a good save early on from Bowen and then had very little to do for the rest of the game apart from a few long shots straight at him. Clean sheets on the reg for Bernd, he’s really turned things around in recent weeks. 7/10

Antonee Robinson

Meep meep, roadrunner Robinson is back to his best. Back and forth the entire game, giving Fulham endless options on that left hand side. Looked good going forward but also had some key contributions defensively up against West Ham’s most dangerous player in Jarrod Bowen. 8.5/10 MOTM

Jorge Cuenca

What a cool customer Jorge is. With two clean sheets since stepping in for Calvin Bassey, if CB arrived back from the AFCON tomorrow, there’s no way he automatically gets his place back. The only mistake I can think of was when Jorge got turned by Calum Wilson, but even then he recovered enough to make the shot difficult. Also, I love his bursts into midfield which give us an extra dimension when attacking. 8/10

Joachim Andersen

After a MOTM performance against Nottingham Forest, this wasn’t quite as strong from Joachim. He picked up a clumsy yellow card in the 51st minute as a result of a heavy touch bringing the ball out of defence which meant he was walking a tightrope for the remainder of the second half. Ultimately kept a clean sheet and he played a couple of lovely raking passes to Jedi, but just not as assured as Monday. 6.5/10

Kenny Tete

I’m Kenny Tete’s biggest fan, but I thought he had a tough game. Seemed hesitant to go forward even when presented with open space and his passing just wasn’t as crisp as usual. He did pull off an incredible block on Bowen at the end of the first half, but ultimately it was in vain as the linesman’s flag was up. Understandably pulled for Timmy Castagne towards the end of the game which suggests he might have been dead on his feet. Nothing too alarming, it wasn’t vintage Kenny today. 6/10

Sander Berge

Thought Sander looked good in midfield once again. Still wish he’d occasionally have a crack at goal rather than always spreading it wide, but we all know that’s under strict Marco instructions. Didn’t do anything particularly noticeable today, but he was solid as ever. 6.5/10

Sasa Lukic

Another good display from Sasa who was a busy lad in the middle of our pitch. Popped up everywhere and rarely gave it away. Two strong performances in a row in absence of Iwobi and on current form it would be another selection headache for Silva if the AFCON ended tomorrow. Only shame is that he missed another decent chance today with the header in the second half that went well wide. 7/10

Emile Smith Rowe

Ooh Emile, this is what we always wanted to see. Another strong display from ESR who is really making this team tick when we go forward, but also working hard off the ball. Ideally, we need some more goal involvements in the coming games, but you can tell that his confidence is high. Was subbed for TC late on, probably just to offer something different, but he should be proud of the way he’s wrestled back a place in this team. 7.5/10

Kevin

I received some flack for my criticism of Kevin on Monday, but I stand by the fact that the Brazilian is having a tough time at the minute.

I want him to succeed, but surely even the biggest Kevin fans would have to agree that this was a bad day at the office. I think it’s got to the stage where Josh King should come in at LW and then Kevin can make an impact off the bench. He just hasn’t looked effective as a starter all season.

He will come good next year, but I think this is another Smith Rowe situation where the lack of a proper pre-season is having a big impact on his ability to perform. I also wonder if Kevin is struggling to adapt to Robinson’s fairly unique runs, he doesn’t seem in sync with Jedi the same way that Willian was.

Please don’t hate me but... 5/10

Harry Wilson

I was worried that Harry’s injury that he sustained against Forest would rule him out, but in fact he was fit enough to last the full 90. Harry barely featured on Monday, but he was much more involved at the London Stadium. Possibly should have done a little better early in the second half when his cross evaded everyone, but ultimately he took the big chance when Scarles gifted him the ball inside the area. He put it on a plate for Raul, making it 7 G/A in his last 6 league games. 7/10

Raul Jimenez

Gonna have to eat some humble pie, because when the Muniz injury was announced after the Everton game, I thought we were done for playing Raul up top every week. Once again, our Mexican centre forward worked tirelessly and then managed to bag the crucial goal. It does feel like this sticking plaster won’t last forever, but let’s not worry too much about the future when it’s proving effective in the here and now. 8/10

SUB: Josh King

Looked lively when he came on and I do actually think he can do a job for us on the wing. Sure, we all want to see Josh centrally, but I think better to have JK on the wing than on the bench, especially whilst Samu Chukwueze is at the AFCON. Just a classy operator, and had a nice connection with Robinson. As I said above, should start against Palace. 7.5/10

OTHER SUBS: Cairney, Diop and Castagne all came on too late to judge.

Marco Silva

The regular writer of this column has been tough on Marco’s and look, I understand why there has been criticism. His game management against City and Palace arguably cost us 4-6 points. I also still think the Lecomte call in the cup was baffling.

However, these last three league games have been Silva at his best. Gritty, hard-fought victories. Won on the pitch but also won in the analysis room. We weren’t great today, but when five of our best players are out, the fact we have won three on the spin should mean Marco deserves huge credit. The defence has been organised and meaningful chances created by both Forest and West Ham were very limited.

Without Marco, I really believe that this season we would be down fighting it out with West Ham, but as the clock strikes midnight on New Year’s Eve we can all enjoy a cheeseboard and a glass of fizz knowing we are a whole 13 points clear of safety.

Silva is clearly only going to sign this new deal if he gets backing in January. With big players returning, and if there’s some certainty secured over Marco’s future, there is no reason we can’t eclipse last season’s record points total. That was a big one for him today. 8.5/10