There are supposed to be few surprises left in football, but to wake on Sunday morning to find that the ugly aftermath of West Ham’s trip to AZ Alkmaar had, without rhyme or reason, and a full year after the event, made it into a Britney Spears Instagram post? Well that, certainly, was unexpected.
Fast-forward to mid-afternoon, and having already ceded possession in the build-up to Andreas Pereira’s opener, Lucas Paqueta found himself culpable for Fulham’s second, this time robbed by a crunching challenge from Joao Palhinha that set the Cottagers away on the break to clinch a 2-0 win.
As Pereira swept home once more and Paqueta trudged belatedly back across halfway, Spears might easily have provided the internal monologue: “Oops, I did it again.”
The blame in neither instance was entirely Paqueta’s, and particularly not in the case of Pereira’s first goal, laid on by Konstantinos Mavropanos’s failure to deal with a routine ball in behind.
But this was an afternoon on which the tide appeared to turn slightly against West Ham’s record signing, who will miss Thursday night’s quarter-final return leg against Bayer Leverkusen through a needless suspension and may well be heading for the exit door when an £85million release clause activates this summer, with Manchester City circling.
The 26-year-old may be a player of utter and inarguable genius, but — as is usually the case with those types — is certainly not without his flaws, the kind that Pep Guardiola no doubt has designs on ironing out.
Chief among them is a penchant for giving the ball away in dangerous positions, often far more perilous, in fact, than those from which Fulham pounced here. It is a strange part of the Brazilian’s charm that he seems to always get away with such capers, blessed by a fortuitous streak not afforded the mortals. At this point, Kalvin Phillips springs to mind.
Moyes, often accused of stifling maverick talent with cautious systems, has spoken regularly this season of his willingness to offer the Brazilian more rope, but made his frustration clear this time.
“Today, his licence didn’t give us anything and it probably punished us in some ways as well,” the Scot said, after watching his side blow the chance to go sixth. “In some way there is a little bit of acceptance, but there shouldn’t be, because I wouldn’t accept it from other players.”
Marco Silva, by contrast, was delighted with his own Brazilian spark, Pereira’s double his first league goals since August, though he has registered seven assists in the interim.
“When you play in that role, you have to be more decisive, score more goals as well,” Silva said. “I was really pleased to see him arriving in certain areas.”
Having also scored in this fixture last term, Pereira took his tally of Fulham goals at the London Stadium to three in two visits, prompting Silva to bastardise a supporters’ gloat in asking: ‘Can he play here every week?’
Given the hole Paqueta may leave this summer, one or two at West Ham might be asking the same question.
