West Ham made it a hat-trick of wins with an eventful 3-1 victory over Fulham at London Stadium, as they came from behind to seal three points to climb to 13th place in the Premier League.

Following an early setback that saw Andreas Pereira give the visitors a fifth-minute lead, the Fulham goalscorer then gifted West Ham an equaliser after senselessly shoving Craig Dawson to the floor on the half-hour mark.

And with Jarrod Bowen consequently levelling from the spot to send the teams in all square at the break, Gianluca Scamacca survived a double Video Assistant Referee check to put the Hammers ahead with his sixth goal of the season on the hour before substitute Michail Antonio took advantage of some dismal defending to cement victory in stoppage time.

The Hammers had already followed up last Saturday’s league victory over Wolves (2-0) with Thursday’s UEFA Conference Group B win at RSC Anderlecht (1-0) and returning from Belgium they made eight changes as they now turned their focus towards this London derby.

Only Bowen, Dawson and Brussels match-winner Scamacca kept their jerseys in a West Ham line-up kicking-off six places and four points below the newly-promoted Cottagers.

But having reverted to arguably his strongest available starting line-up, David Moyes could only look on aghast as the visitors went ahead with just five minutes on the clock.

Bowen’s unfortunate, ill-timed slip midway inside the Fulham half now allowed Tim Ream’s pass to send Neeskens Kebano racing away down the left flank and the DR Congo international duly fed the supporting Pereira, who advanced into the Hammers penalty area, where he unleashed an angled, rising 10-yard volley that flew across the face of Kurt Zouma and beyond the outstretched arm of Łukasz Fabiański as it scorched under the far angle.

And having given the visitors that quickfire lead with his first goal for the Cottagers since his £10million arrival from Flamengo in the summer, the once-capped Brazilian international almost doubled that tally just three minutes later.

This time, though, the Hammers keeper beat out Pereira’s left-wing free-kick before recovering to field a long-range, 18-yard, headed follow-up from Daniel James.

Marco Silva’s side had crossed the capital still smarting from last weekend’s 4-1 home defeat at the hands of Newcastle United and the Cottagers’ head coach had made four changes as Kebano, Carlos Vinicius, João Palhinha and Antonee Robinson came in for scuppered six-goal Aleksandar Mitrović (ankle), Nathaniel Chalobah (suspended), Layvin Kurzawa and substitute Kevin Mbabu, who joined former Hammer, Issa Diop, on the bench,

On the quarter-hour mark, James rocked the home crossbar with thumping 20-yarder as Moyes’ men remained firmly on the back foot with everyone in claret and blue wondering just how they were going to gain any traction on this seemingly one-way contest.

But Scamacca did at least raise both East End expectations and hopes, when he met Lucas Paquetá’s clever chip with a point-blank header that Bernd Leno brilliantly parried and, midway through the half, the Italian striker then fired a low, angled shot beyond both the Fulham keeper and the base of the far upright.

West Ham’s top-scorer was, indeed, now looking capable of leading his side’s fightback and it was almost third time lucky when the £30million-plus summer signing from Sassuolo again saw Leno in his sights but, once again, the former Arsenal stopper foiled his close-range effort before Bowen arrived on the scene to somehow scoop the rebound over the top.

As the half-hour mark approached, though, the Hammers were gifted an opportunity to equalise, when Pereira went from hero to villain, wrestling Dawson to the deck as the two went in pursuit of a Bowen corner.

Incredibly, just seconds earlier, the Fulham goal-scorer had been warned by referee Chris Kavanagh for his over-zealous, pre-flag kick shenanigans, yet for reasons only known to himself, he again bundled the Hammers in-rushing central defender to the London Stadium turf right in front of the official’s eyes.

And stepping up to the spot, Bowen calmly sent the resultant penalty inside the left-hand post as Leno headed in the opposite direction - his fourth goal of the season now meaning that West Ham went in level at the break.

Early in the second half, Paquetá’s clever shoulder dip made room for a low, curling 18-yarder that Leno read with just a split-second to spare and then Scamacca bundled only inches wide.

The Hammers' Italy-Brazil axis had combined to conjure up the winner in Belgium on Thursday night and, three days on, their developing telepathy came to fore once more as West Ham took the lead on 62 minutes.

Collecting skipper Declan Rice’s crossfield pass, Paquetá cleverly lobbed forward to Scamacca who had ghosted behind both Ream and Tosin Adarabioyo before controlling the ball and chipping the advancing Leno from 15 yards.

The nine-cap Italian international may have just hit the half-dozen mark but with Fulham appealing for offside, handball and anything else that came to mind, his goal celebration was certainly muted as London Stadium held its breath during an agonising, double VAR check.

But following a seemingly eternal wait, Stockley Park finally gave Stratford the green light and referee Kavanagh signalled the goal that was the catalyst for harmonious Hammers celebrations and furious Fulham protests that led to a cautions for both Vinicius and his coach Silva.

A flurry of substitutions followed but after Fabiański brilliantly denied the newly-arrived Tom Cairney an equaliser, it was left to Antonio – now on for Scamacca – to seal victory in stoppage time with his fourth goal of the season.

In comic scenes, the Jamaican international raced onto Tomáš Souček’s through ball and, although Leno managed to parry the advancing striker’s low 18-yarder, the German keeper then got himself into a terrible tangle, comically colliding with the back-pedalling Ream to leave Antonio all alone to plant the loose ball into the net from eight yards to secure a wonderful West Ham win that lifts Moyes men into 13th spot in the table.

West Ham United: Fabianski, Kehrer, Cresswell, Dawson, Zouma, Rice, Souček, Fornals (Downes 90+2), Paquetá (Emerson 83), Bowen, Scamacca (Antonio 80). Unused subs: Areola, Johnson, Coufal, Lanzini, Ogbonna, Benrahma.

Fulham: Leno, Kebano (Duffy 88), Robinson, Adarabioyo, Ream, Reed (Cairney 70), Palhinha, Pereira (Onomah 76), James (Wilson 76), De Cordova-Reid, Vinicius. Unused subs: Rodák, Mbabu, Diop, Harris, Godo.

Booked: Pereira (28), Reed (58), Vinicius (66) Kehrer (83).

Referee: Chris Kavanagh.