Di Canio frustrates Fulham with late penalty

Fulham 0 West Ham United 1

West Ham United cannot win at home but are suddenly enjoying themselves on the road, recording a third successive away victory last night to shoot up to 14th place in the table. Watch out the next three hosts – Liverpool, Leeds and Manchester United.

Playing at a tight little ground reminiscent of the old Upton Park, with raucous travelling support, seemed to inspire them. Or perhaps it was the opposition: having been the last team (ever, in all likelihood) to beat Fulham at Craven Cottage, east London's finest became the first visitors to dethrone them at Loftus Road.

After dominating the first half against a much-changed Fulham side, they had to wait until the final minute before Paolo Di Canio converted a penalty, Jermain Defoe having been brought down by Zat Knight, who was sent off. For Jean Tigana's team, it was a return to the days of high summer, when they struggled so desperately to score in the Intertoto Cup. Some of his five changes were through injuries to players like Sean Davis and Facundo Sava, but it turned out to be a mistake to rest others who had contributed to a handsome performance in Saturday's 1-1 draw against Manchester United.

Junichi Inamoto, brought back after a three-match absence, was utterly ineffective and substituted at half-time, to the disappointment of the Japanese hordes initially so excited by his return. Even Inamoto's compatriots could not fill the ground, an attendance of only 15,858 helping to explain why Fulham continue to look at new sites, the latest of them as far away as Osterley.

The home supporters did not enjoy much of the evening, apart from a brief spell at the start of the second half. Until then, West Ham had maintained the momentum from winning at Chelsea, then pooping Howard Wilkinson's party at Sunderland. They deserved to be ahead within five minutes, Joe Cole's pass sending Defoe through to beat Edwin van der Sar as the referee's assistant dubiously raised a flag.

Defoe was quickly in again from the ultimate Charles Hughes move – a huge clearance by the goalkeeper, David James, missed by Andy Melville. The young striker failed to beat Van der Sar, who then prevented one of the goals of the season, tipping aside Trevor Sinclair's thrilling mid-air volley.

Inamoto's withdrawal brought a debut for Martin Djétou, one of Fulham's foreign loanees. They always look more dangerous when Steed Malbranque is the furthest midfielder forward, but last night's formation had him on the right of the diamond. When he moved inside for once, just after the hour, their only real opportunity of the night resulted, Steve Marlet's fierce shot just clearing the bar.

So James, hoping to impress upon the watching Tord Grip that it is high time for him to replace David Seaman in England's goal, did not have a save to make. His most important intervention was to drag Di Canio away from potential trouble, when the West Ham captain appeared on the verge of confronting a spectator or two after the final whistle. Di Canio was on a high by then, having tucked his penalty away after Knight's rash lunge at the lively Defoe.

"Over the 90 minutes we've done a thoroughly professional job," said the visitors' manager Glenn Roeder. "Our away supporters have seen some excellent stuff. Now we need to put in a good performance and get a good victory at home to Everton." Knowing their team, they will not bank on it.

Fulham (4-4-2): Van der Sar 7; Finnan 6, Knight 4, Melville 4, Womé 6; Malbranque 6, Legwinski 6, Inamoto 3 (Djétou 6, h-t), Boa Morte 6 (Stolcers, 77); Marlet 6, Hayles 5. Substitutes not used: Taylor (gk), Collins, Ouaddou.

West Ham United (4-4-2): James 6; Dailly 5, Repka 5, Pearce 5, Minto 5; Cissé 6, Carrick 5, Cole 6, Sinclair 6; Defoe 6, Di Canio 7. Substitutes not used: Van der Gouw (gk), Winterburn, Breen, Garcia, Camara.

Referee: R Styles (Waterlooville) 4.