Danny Ings came off the bench to score a last-gasp equaliser as West Ham claimed a 1-1 Premier League draw with Fulham at Craven Cottage.
Raul Jimenez opened the scoring with his first Premier League goal of the season for the hosts midway through the first half, but the Hammers struck at the death to take home a share of the points.
The draw could have left Fulham boss Marco Silva frustrated after his side looked the more deserving of a win in west London.
Referee Tim Robinson caught some flack from both dugouts after two contentious decisions in the first 15 minutes.
Fulham midfielder Sasa Lukic went unpunished after he cynically brought Mohammed Kudus down on the break, moments before the Cottagers’ Adama Traore – who was one-on-one in front of goal – was shoved over from behind inside the box.
Robinson insisted there was not enough contact for a penalty and after VAR failed to overturn the decision, Fulham boss Silva was booked for his reaction to the fourth official.
But decisions against the hosts did not keep them down for long as they were persistent enough to grab an opener.
Lukic unleashed Emile Smith Rowe into space, the attacking midfielder jinked inside from the byline and picked out Jimenez, who evaded Max Kilman with neat movement before tapping his effort into the left-hand corner.
Smith Rowe was finding joy down the left-hand side with fellow former Arsenal academy graduate Alex Iwobi, as the two often combined with marauding full-back Antonee Robinson.
The trio were the Cottagers’ main outlets going forward and they managed to make inroads on the opposition which West Ham failed to replicate.
Irons manager Julen Lopetegui turned to the bench in the form of Crysencio Summerville and Lucas Paqueta as West Ham finally showed some fight after the break.
Kudus cut inside onto his creative left foot, punching a whipped low ball between white shirts towards Jarrod Bowen inside the area.
The West Ham skipper adjusted his feet, managing a quickfire shot with his weaker right foot, but the ball was rifled straight at Bernd Leno, who spread himself to deny the England international.
Reiss Nelson, who joined from Arsenal on a deadline-day loan, came on for his debut and made an immediate impact. The wide-man hugged the left touchline and tempted markers into pressing, giving himself freedom to pick team-mates out on the overlap.
Nelson’s cameo almost saw him have a hand in a goal. His creativity saw his floated cross almost converted by Smith Rowe, whose smashed volley, which was destined for the net, was blocked, denying a well-worked move for the hosts.
With moments to go, Bowen’s cross found Ings, whose powered strike had too much on it for Leno to deal with as the goalkeeper could only palm the shot into the side netting as Ings celebrated his first league goal since March to steal a point at the death.
Sourse: breakingnews.ie
