Fulham hosted West Ham United in their Premier League match this afternoon.

Mohamed Diame put the visitors ahead early on, but Steve Sidwell levelled the scores with a headed effort.

West Ham were reduced to 10 men at the end of the first half, as Kevin Nolan was sent off for kicking out at Fernando Amorebieta.

Dimitar Berbatov scored the winning goal for Fulham after the break, as they recorded a vital three points to move out of the relegation zone.

Read how the action unfolded below.

Here, Sports Mole takes a closer look at the events that unfolded at Craven Cottage.

Match Statistics:

Fulham:
Shots 30
On Target 11
Possession 68%
Corners 12
Fouls 6

West Ham:
Shots 11
On Target 3
Possession 32%
Corners 4
Fouls 5

Was the result fair?

Fulham were deserved winners today. From the start they dominated and looked to create goalscoring opportunities. They may have conceded a sloppy goal in the opening minutes, but fought back well to take control and were handed the initiative following Nolan's red card at the end of the first half. From that moment, they looked the side most likely to win, as the visitors lacked any real cutting edge.

Fulham's performance

Rene Meulensteen will be delighted with the response of his team following their 6-0 defeat against Hull City just a few days ago. They constantly worked the West Ham defence and managed 30 strikes on their opponents' goal. One thing they will want to address is turning more of those attempts into goals, but two victories from three games over the festive period is a good sign for them and they are now up to 16th in the table.

West Ham's performance

West Ham may have scored early on through Diame, but they failed to build on such a positive start. Nolan had a header saved minutes later that could have put them two goals ahead, but there can be no complaints that they were beaten by the better team. The game hinged on Nolan's sending-off, and had they gone into the second half with all 11 players on the pitch, things could have been a lot different.

Sports Mole's man of the match

Scott Parker: Scott Parker was brilliant during his team's win over Norwich City and was sorely missed during their match against Hull, but he returned today to help them to three well-earned points. He controlled the midfield and played a big part in their second goal, as well as keeping hold of the ball in the closing stages, when it looked as if West Ham sensed a late equaliser.

Biggest gaffe

There can be no doubt that Nolan is the man to blame for West Ham's defeat this afternoon. With a minute to go until half time and the scores level at 1-1, he kicked out at Amorebieta in an off the ball incident for no reason. The referee had no choice but to send him off, and his team faced an uphill battle for the next 45 minutes, as they desperately tried to stop Fulham from scoring. Eventually their defence was breached, and manager Sam Allardyce will have some strong words to say to his captain, who received a straight red card just three weeks ago, in a defeat to Liverpool at Anfield.

Referee's performance

Mark Clattenburg got all of the big decisions correct this afternoon. He was left with little option but to send Nolan off and made the right call on the three yellow cards he handed out. There was a moment in the game where Fulham wanted a penalty for a foul on Damien Duff, but the first contact had occurred outside of the box and he rightly gave a free kick.

What next?

Fulham: The Cottagers visit Norwich City in the third round of the FA Cup on Saturday.

West Ham: West Ham are also in FA Cup action, and face Nottingham Forest at the City Ground on Sunday.