West Ham moved off the bottom of the English Premier League after a
come-from-behind 3-1 win at Fulham on Boxing Day.
Avram Grant's side fell
behind early to Aaron Hughes's early header but two goals from Carlton Cole and
one from Frederic Piquionne sealed West Ham's first away win of the
season.
The victory lifted West Ham off the foot of the table into third
from bottom, one point from safety.
Fulham dominated the first half and
took the lead when Simon Davies's cross found Hughes in space and he took
advantage to open the scoring after just 11 minutes.
Against the run of
play, West Ham equalized eight minutes before half-time through Cole and
Piquionne struck on the stroke of half- time to put the visitors ahead at the
break.
Both sides had chances to score the fourth goal of the match but
it was West Ham who grabbed it, Cole latching onto a loose defensive header and
striking a superb first-time shot into the corner.
It was the first time
Cole has scored two goals in a Premier League match and his efforts will be a
massive boost to Avram Grant's hopes of remaining as the West Ham
manager.
Later on Boxing Day, Manchester United will be looking to
maintain their two-point lead at the top of the table by beating Sunderland at
Old Trafford.
Manchester City can go above Arsenal into second if they
can win at Newcastle, but the games between Blackpool and Liverpool, and Everton
and Birmingham City were postponed because of the freezing weather.