Paquetá kickstarts Potter era but Fulham almost spoil West Ham party
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It was just as West Ham imagined it when they spent more than £100m last summer. Lucas Paquetá up front, two left-backs on the pitch at the end and the latest man to sit in the home dugout at the London Stadium wondering if his new employers are always this baffling.
![[Tomas Soucek celebrates after scoring West Ham’s second goal.]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/cfa945d056bb54fbc953b996bf337badd759f028/0_124_3697_2218/master/3697.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
This was a game that West Ham did their best not to win, so much so that they even let in two crosses from Alex Iwobi. Still, though, Graham Potter found logic in the puzzle. The West Ham manager came into his first Premier League game in charge short of forwards and nonetheless found a way to win after punishing a series of dreadful mistakes from Fulham with goals from Carlos Soler, Tomas Soucek and Paquetá.
Potter’s attacking options were limited by Niclas Fullkrug and Crysencio Summerville joining Michail Antonio and Jarrod Bowen on the injury list. He responded by thinking outside the box, naming a team without a recognised striker and using Lucas Paquetá as a false nine, and it took West Ham a while to adjust.
There was little energy, which was perhaps to be expected from a team so short of pace in almost every position, and Fulham accepted the invitation to squeeze the pitch. West Ham, who are considering a loan move for the RB Leipzig forward André Silva, were lucky to escape when Harry Wilson volleyed against the bar in the sixth minute.
