Raul Jimenez's late winner punished a wasteful West Ham to give Fulham a 1-0 victory at the London Stadium to deepen the Hammers' relegation fears.
A mistake from West Ham left-back Ollie Scarles proved costly as Harry Wilson took full advantage of his miskicked clearance to cross for Jimenez to head home in the 85th minute.
Twenty-year-old Scarles was left in tears at the final whistle following his error, but Hammers boss Nuno Espirito Santo backed the West Ham academy graduate in his post-match press conference, insisting the player "has our total confidence and support".
Missed chances from Jarrod Bowen, Callum Wilson and Soungoutou Magassa saw West Ham suffer a third straight defeat to extend their winless run to seven matches as they remain 18th, five points from safety.
It was also West Ham’s 11th Premier League home defeat of 2025, now the joint-most home losses in their league history in a calendar year, equalling 1967.
But Fulham signed off 2025 in style to move into the top half of the table as they made it three straight league wins for the first time since January 2023.
Before kick-off, West Ham had the chance to move two points behind 17th-placed Nottingham Forest after their 2-1 home defeat to Manchester City in the lunchtime game.
But wasteful finishing saw Nuno Espirito Santo’s side fail to capitalise on Forest’s defeat, with Magassa not making contact on Crysencio Summerville’s deflected shot in the first half.
Bowen had their best chance in the 65th minute as he steered wide from Magassa’s pull-back, and five minutes later, substitute Wilson dragged his effort wide when through on goal.
West Ham’s poor finishing and an error from Scarles were punished by the visitors as Jimenez headed in to make it a sixth straight London derby defeat this season for the home side.
West Ham head coach Nuno Espirito Santo speaking at his post-match press conference:
"I felt the momentum was ours, we created situations.
"We felt that the goal was coming, but in the end we got punished, and after that, there was not too much time.
"What is my main concern? How to win a game. It's what we think, it's what we want, it's what we work for, it's what the boys try.
"We can spend hours and hours talking about all the aspects, but basically, when you don't score, the situation that we are in, everything bad happens to us."
On Ollie Scarles' tears after his mistake: "We are all disappointed and sad, but we stick together.
"He has our total confidence and support. Mistakes are part of the game.
"Today and tonight is going to be tough, but tomorrow is another day and then we are playing again."
Fulham head coach Marco Silva speaking at his post-match press conference:
"A very tight game, as we expected.
"It was important for the home team to win this afternoon, but we showed our ambition.
"The game looked like being a draw, but the team showed the ambition to try to win the game.
"Three wins in a row in the Premier League is very difficult to achieve so the players deserve all the credit."
"Say hello to QPR," taunted the Fulham fans as they revelled in West Ham's plight.
Jimenez's late winner only made a Championship visit to Loftus Road next season likelier for West Ham, with relegation now becoming a reality.
West Ham have taken just 13 points from 18 Premier League games this season, their fewest at this stage of a league campaign since 2010/11 when they were relegated, finishing bottom.
The numbers this season make for relegation reading - they are on a seven-game winless run, they have not kept a clean sheet since August and have lost seven of their nine league home games.
Confidence is extremely low at the Hammers, and it was reflected in their woeful finishing against Fulham.
But it was Bowen's second-half miss that was most worrying for West Ham, because if their ever-reliable talisman is not firing, then they really are in bother.
"When you don't score, the situation that we are in, everything bad happens to us," said Nuno.
And that was certainly true on Saturday as Scarles' huge error allowed Jimenez to nod home.
The youngster, who had been impressive up until that mistake, was left in tears at the full-time whistle.
But come May, he will not be the only one crying if things continue like this for West Ham.
