West Ham United U21s 0-3 Fulham U21s
Premier League 2, Rush Green Stadium, Friday 1 November 2024, 7pm GMT

West Ham United U21s saw their unbeaten home streak come to an end at the hands of an in-form Fulham side, who extended their own winning run on the road to four consecutive matches.

Kristian Šekularac opened the scoring within five minutes, and Fulham protected their lead well, adding two more goals in the second half through Callum Osmand and Šekularac once again. Despite a determined effort and several big chances, the young Hammers were unable to break through Fulham’s resilient defence, leaving them looking for a response in their upcoming National League Cup fixture at Braintree on Tuesday.

Fulham set the tone early at Rush Green Stadium, with Šekularac breaking the deadlock after just five minutes. Despite a confident start in possession, the Hammers were caught out by a Fulham transition down the left flank. Terrell Works slalomed his way into the West Ham penalty area, reaching the byline before pulling it back to Šekularac, who slotted home from close range in a crowded West Ham penalty area.

After conceding, West Ham looked to respond, Favour Fawunmi forcing a save out of goalkeeper Alex Borto who was able to parry his tentative strike away from danger. West Ham continued to create promising moments in attack, with Sean Moore delivering a well-placed cross that was only just too high for Brad Dolaghan. Shortly after, West Ham’s biggest chance to equalise fell to Josh Briggs in the box following a corner, but his close-range effort went wide.

The Hammers came very close again to drawing level on 33 minutes when Fawunmi’s strike rebounded off the post after Borto’s mishandled punch from a corner left the net exposed. Despite their encouraging attacking play, including an effort from Lewis Orford from the edge of the box, Fulham held their one-goal advantage heading into the break.

The second half saw Fulham take the early initiative, but West Ham responded with quick transitional play. Fawunmi’s shot from just outside the box only just missing the target, set up by great build-up play from Moore, Dolaghan and Dan Rigge, hinted at a potential Hammers breakthrough. Momentum continued to swing toward West Ham as Orford’s deft pass picked out Rigge, only for Borto to smother his effort.

Fulham punished the Hammers for their missed chances, doubling their lead in the 53rd minute, as Aaron Loupalo-Bi’s driven cross was met by Callum Osmand, who made no mistake in doubling the visitors’ lead.

In an attempt to swing the momentum back in their favour, Mark Robson introduced fresh legs in Kamarai Swyer, Sean Tarima and Ollie Scarles. Despite West Ham’s late efforts, Fulham remained composed, absorbing pressure while managing possession effectively. A late flurry of chances brought Borto back into action, including a decent strike from Ryan Battrum and a close-range effort from Junior Robinson.

With time winding down, Fulham capitalised once more on a fast break. Deep into stoppage time, after West Ham had gone down to ten men through a Luis Brown professional last man foul, Šekularac sealed the result, his second of the night, a well controlled first time left-footed effort from just inside the box, securing a 3-0 win for the visitors.

West Ham United U21s: Herrick, Briggs, Luizão, Brown, Battrum, Orford © (Scarles 69), Akpata (Tarima 69), Adiele, Fawunmi (Robinson 81), Rigge, Dolaghan (Swyer 69)
Sub not used: Terry (GK)

Booked: Moore

Sent off: Brown

Fulham U21s: Borto, Gofford, Esenga, Nsasi, Amissah, Donnell ©, Loupalo-Bi (Olyott 90), Šekularac, Osmand, Gordon, Works (Park 90+3)
Subs not used: McNally (GK), White, Zepa

Goals: Šekularac 5, 90+7, Osmand 53

Robson: It was a fairly even game but credit to them for taking their chances

After a demanding seven days for the U21s with three fixtures, including two away trips, lead coach Mark Robson reflected on facing an in-form Fulham side and managing player fatigue.

“Fulham played well tonight," he remarked. "They’re a strong side with some really athletic players, and they executed their goals effectively. From our point of view, I’m a bit disappointed with some of the defensive actions leading up to those goals, but we had our chances too. It was a fairly even game but credit to them for taking their chances.

“It’s been a tough week for us with a couple of intense games, especially on Tuesday against Cheltenham. It’s been a demanding week physically in training too. We made seven changes tonight to manage that, and the boys that came in gave it everything and kept fighting right until the end. We just fell short against a very good Fulham side. The performances across our last few games have been strong; now it’s about finding that extra bit of quality in the final third to turn them into results.”