West Ham 0-2 Fulham: David Moyes’ side booed off the pitch ahead of crucial European night as Andreas Pereira strikes twice for visitors

If this was meant to be the dress rehearsal for West Ham’s big European night, the boos that greeted both the interval and the final curtain told you all about what the crowd thought of the preview show.

Andreas Pereira’s double for Fulham sent the Hammers off on an afternoon in which David Moyes’ front men misplaced their steps, whistled their lines and gave no indication they will be able to overturn a two-goal deficit here against unbeaten Bayer Leverkusen Thursday night to reach Europe. League semi-finals.

Not only that, but West Ham spurned the chance to move above Newcastle and Manchester United into sixth place in the Premier League.

For all the magic and miracles European nights can bring, the odds against them to overcome a Leverkusen side unbeaten in 42 games suggested a win over mid-table Fulham may have been theirs best way to bring such football. back to the London Stadium next season.

“I’m exhausted,” Moyes said. ‘This was a great chance to finish sixth with five games to go, what a great position to be in. We gave the ball away and it opened us up. We were punished.

David Moyes’ side are tasked with completing a historic European comeback in midweek

Their performance against Fulham shows no signs of beating Bayer Leverkusen

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‘Miracle is a strong word. I thought we didn’t have our shooting boots. We will need our shooting boots (against Leverkusen), we will need the goalscorers to deliver the goods.’

Moyes does not yet know if he will have top scorer Jarrod Bowen back from injury to face Leverkusen. “He’s on the mend,” was all the West Ham boss could say.

If they are to produce another magical night on Thursday, they cannot afford to make the same mistakes. They cannot afford Michail Antonio to cross early from eight yards.

They cannot afford, as they did for Fulham’s opener, that Konstantinos Mavropanos try to deflect a long pass inside his own box with an airport baggage handler tap and watch Pereira round Lukas Fabianski to score.

They cannot afford talisman Lucas Paqueta to give the ball away as he did for the opening goal, although the Brazilian will play no part on Thursday after his yellow card in the first defeat.

On this showing, it’s a blessing. “Now and again you get players like this, you have to give them a bit of license to do things,” Moyes said.

‘Today his driving license gave us nothing. It probably also punished us in some ways.’

The impressive Pereira scored twice, tapping in his second from Alex Iwobi’s cross after 72 minutes, but he could have had even more. He put a much better chance wide from close range in the first half after a simple ball down the flank ripped West Ham open.

Moyes chose to rest several key players with his eyes on the European clash

Fulham were in complete control as they outclassed the Irons at their own stadium

Most recently there was concern when young substitute George Earthy left the field on a stretcher

He was lucky to stay on the field before doubling Fulham’s lead after a nasty tackle that caught Paquet high on the leg, but referee Stuart Attwell waved a yellow card and VAR Darren England agreed.

After his opener, Pereira ran across the pitch to embrace manager Marco Silva.

“His celebration was probably because of how we have required him to arrive in these areas,” Silva said. ‘We told him to be in the pockets and behind. I was really happy to see him in these areas. The composure for the first goal was good to see. It will be important for Andreas.’

West Ham, as Moyes admitted, were anything but ruthless. Antonio burned out. Mohammed Kudus curled an effort wide of the post. Paqueta shot into the side netting. Coufal grabbed wide. Ings sent a header straight at Bernd Leno.

James Ward-Prowse nodded over from close range on the stroke of half-time after a good late run into the box. It won’t be enough against Leverkusen.

Most recently, there was major concern when young West Ham substitute George Earthy left the pitch on a stretcher and oxygen and was later sent to hospital with a head injury following a collision with team-mate Edson Alvarez that left him receiving treatment for eight minutes.

“I’m really disappointed for George,” added Moyes. ‘He has done really well in training and in the under-21s and has come much closer to the first team. He had some really nice details when he came on.

‘He’s fine, we think it was a head blow. He is awake and in the hospital for a check-up. We think he’s okay. He is a fantastic footballer, a fantastic little technician.’

Eighth could still be enough for West Ham to regain European football depending on how the domestic trophies fall and if England secure five Champions League places.

But this is now a Hammers side with three wins in 14 Premier League games, with Liverpool, Chelsea and Man City still to play. You can’t let chances like this slide to move up to sixth place.

West Ham have enjoyed many a special European night here and they will need their biggest yet against Xavi Alonso’s Leverkusen. They will draw on those memories, on the echoes of toppling the Europa League winners in Sevilla here two years ago.

Few fans remained when the final whistle blew, but those who did produced enough noise to make it clear that they cannot pull off performances like this.