LONDON, April 9 — A first-half own goal gave West Ham United three vital points in the battle against relegation as they beat Fulham 1-0 at Craven Cottage in their Premier League clash yesterday.

Having started the day among four clubs on 27 points, including third-bottom Bournemouth, the Hammers overcame Fulham’s dominance in possession to secure a win that lifts them to 13th spot on 30 points.

West Ham and manager David Moyes, under pressure since a humiliating 5-1 home defeat by Newcastle United on Wednesday, took the lead when Jarrod Bowen’s pull-back was steered into his own net by Fulham midfielder Harrison Reed in the 23rd minute.

Mid-table Fulham created a total of 16 efforts on goal, but only two on target as they failed to convert their possession into decent scoring opportunities, often settling for aimless crosses into the box that were easily dealt with.

They were not helped by the fact that their Serbian striker Aleksandar Mitrovic was sitting in the stands as he serves an eight-match ban for pushing the referee during their FA Cup tie with Manchester United last month.

West Ham continued to threaten from set pieces, with defender Kurt Zouma heading over from Aaron Cresswell’s free kick in the 67th minute, while Declan Rice drove a free kick from a very tight angle that was deflected behind for a corner two minutes later.

Fulham’s best chance came in the 83rd minute as Andreas Pereira attempted to go around West Ham’s Lukasz Fabianski, but the goalkeeper got a touch on the ball to avert the danger.

Substitute Maxwel Cornet wasted a great chance to make it 2-0 in stoppage time for West Ham, firing straight at keeper Bernd Leno, but it made no difference as Moyes’s side hung on for their first away win since August.

"A brilliant away performance, sometimes you have to play in a style when you’re not in the best form and maybe not in the best position in the league, and we did a brilliant job at it,” Moyes said in a post-match TV interview.

The West Ham boss acknowledged that his side had been under the cosh, but praised them for their character in a game where they spent long spells without the ball.

"We defended really well today, probably the best we’ve defended for a long time ... Fulham dominated a lot of the ball but I still felt that we always looked a bit of a threat on the break,” Moyes said. — Reuters