A second five-goal triumph in five days saw Fulham extinguish any momentum David Moyes might have taken from West Ham’s burglary of three points at Tottenham on Thursday and lift the Whites into the top half of the Premier League. Having gone thirty three games without finding the net in the top flight, Raul Jimenez headed a fourth goal in five matches to begin a burst of Fulham goals that ended the contest by the half hour. Willian slotted home from Andreas Pereira’s cute cross and Tosin Adarabioyo powered in the Brazilian’s corner at the back post as Fulham cut through the Hammers’ horrific defence at will.

Moyes couldn’t avert a first top flight defeat against the Cottagers in fourteen attempts even by making a double change at half time. Marco Silva’s own substitute, Harry Wilson, curled in a majestic fourth and unselfishly played in Carlos VInicius in the final minute of normal time. The majesty of Fulham’s play, choregraphed classily by Tom Cairney who rolled back the years on his 300th Fulham performance, seemed lightyears from the listless performances of the early weeks of the season when Silva’s side were suffering from their post-Mitrovic hangover.

By contrast, West Ham – serenaded as the ‘champions of Europe’ by a travelling support that thinned in dramatically as a forgettable afternoon progressed – were woeful. The only threat they posed to Bernd Leno came from a powerful James Ward-Prowse free-kick and when Jarrod Bowen drifted dangerously inside shortly afterwards. Fulham’s fluent football was encapsulated by the way Alex Iwobi and Andreas Pereira interchanged off the right, although the Nigerian’s long-range sighter was off target.

Willian and Jimenez swapped precise passes to put the Mexican within sight of goal but the former Wolves forward’s shot lacked the power to unduly trouble Lukasz Fabianski. It was a different story midway through the first period when Fulham swept forward at speed after Joao Palhinha wrestled possession back with a robust tackle. The Portuguese international showed he’s much more than a mere destroyer by floating a delicious cross to the far post where Jimenez headed emphatically past Fabianski.

That put a spring in Fulham’s step and they quickly doubled the lead. Fabianski pushed away an Iwobi effort, but Pereira was first to the loose ball steering it back across the face of goal. Iwobi got a toe to the cross but Willian sidefooted into the far corner to underline the hosts’ supremacy. The third arrived from a set play as Adarabioyo headed Pereira’s corner home at the far post, despite the best efforts of Vladimir Coufal. The Hammers probably knew it wasn’t going to be their day when Bowen, usually so reliable in front of goal, shot straight at Leno when he was left unattended from a Coufal cross.

Wilson replaced Willian at half-time after the Brazilian was caught by a crude challenge before the interval and produced a superb spin in the box but couldn’t supply the finish to match, driving tamely at Fabianski. He made amends on the hour mark, drifting onto his favoured left foot from the right, and finding the top corner with a fabulous finish from 20 yards. Bowen stabbed toothlessly at Leno in a rare West Ham foray, but the home side added a fifth when Wilson raced through the remnants of the visiting defence and squared for Vinicius to prod in.

FULHAM (4-3-3): Leno; Castagne, A. Robinson (Ballo-Toure 72), Adarabioyo, Bassey; Palhinha (Reed 80), Cairney, Pereira; Iwobi (De Cordova-Reid 79), Willian (Wilson 45); Jimenez (Vinicius 72). Subs (not used): Rodak, Tete, Lukic, Muniz.

BOOKED: Palhinha, Ballo-Toure.

GOALS: Jimenez (22), Willian (31), Adarabioyo (40), Wilson (60), Vinicius (89).

WEST HAM UNITED (4-4-1-1): Fabianski; Coufal, Creswell (Mavropanos 45), Zouma (Ogbonna 64), Aguerd; Soucek, Ward-Prowse, Kudus (Mubama 64), Fornals (Emerson 45); Paqueta (Benrahma 65); Bowen. Subs (not used): Anang, Kehrer, Cornet, Ings.

BOOKED: Creswell.

REFEREE: Paul Tierney (Wigan).

ATTENDANCE: 23,988