Crysencio Summerville scored the only goal of the game as West Ham boosted their hopes of Premier League survival with a hard-fought win against Fulham at Craven Cottage.
The Dutchman pounced on a lapse in communication between Bernd Leno and Calvin Bassey shortly after the hour mark to earn the struggling Hammers only a seventh win of the Premier League season.
After Nottingham Forest’s 2-2 draw with Manchester City on the same night, the three points moves Nuno Espirito Santo’s side level on points with the Midlands club who sit in 17th place.
The defeat is a blow for Fulham’s hopes of qualifying for Europe as they slip to 10th after failing to capitalise on Liverpool and Bournemouth’s dropped points 24 hours earlier.
With Fulham missing talisman Harry Wilson and West Ham among the lowest scorers in the Premier League, the first half drifted towards a stalemate before sparking into life late on at Craven Cottage.
Valentin Castellanos and Samuel Chukwueze exchanged efforts inside the opening five minutes, while the Hammers had a penalty appeal waved away when Jarrod Bowen’s corner struck the shoulder of Alex Iwobi.
But the contest finally burst into action in the closing moments of the half when West Ham midfielder Mateus Fernandes narrowly avoided a second yellow card for a foul on Joshua King.
King should have opened his account in the Premier League seconds later as his shot was saved by Mads Hermansen after stealing a yard on Tomas Soucek inside the box.
Fulham were then awarded a penalty four minutes into the second half when Tom Cairney went to ground under a challenge from Castellanos
However, referee Matt Donohue overturned the decision after consulting the pitch-side monitor, ruling that Cairney had in fact kicked the West Ham forward.
The breakthrough came in the 65th minute when Summerville took advantage of a mix-up between Leno and Bassey before finishing coolly for his fifth goal of the campaign.
Hermansen produced a stunning save four minutes from time to deny Timothy Castagne and earn his side a precious derby victory.
Fulham analysis: A bad night from start to finish
For Fulham, it was a night that began badly and never truly recovered.
The pre-match news that Harry Wilson would miss out through injury heightened the challenge facing Marco Silva’s side.
The 28-year-old Wales international has been a talismanic figure for the Whites this season.
Wilson is the first Fulham player since Dimitar Berbatov in 2012-13 to register 15 goal contributions in a single campaign, so his absence was always likely to be felt.
But with his contract set to expire this summer, Wednesday night offered a glimpse of what life without him could look like at Craven Cottage.
On the basis of this performance, Silva’s side will need to find new source of attacking threat in the final third if they are to continue to fight for Europe.
