Michail Antonio seals the three points for the Hammers after they fought back from a goal down

Of all the pointless penalties given away in Premier League history, Andreas Pereira’s will forever rank highly after a performance in which Fulham’s forward went from brilliant to brainless.

Twice Pereira was told not to grapple with Craig Dawson while West Ham waited to swing in their corner. Twice play was paused so the referee, Chris Kavanagh, could have a word.

It was in one ear and out the other, apparently. Aaron Cresswell’s corner flew in and Dawson was clever. He wanted to see if his opponent was foolish enough to foul him.

Jarrod Bowen scored from the spot for West Ham's first of their 3-1 comeback victory

Bowen's penalty was awarded after Andres Pereira gave away a foul in his own penalty box

Scamacca scored the Hammers' second with a confident flick over Bernd Leno's head

And Michail Antonio completed the comeback in added time with his strike to make it three

Pereira was that fool. He ignored his previous warnings, blocked Dawson, Kavanagh awarded the penalty, Jarrod Bowen scored, and it proved to be the turning point for West Ham. 

Bowen converted the spot kick to make it 1-1

Pereira had earlier handed the visitors the lead with a sizzling shot that flew past Lukasz Fabianski and this moment of madness sealed his downgrade from hero to zero.

‘It’s a moment for him to learn,’ Fulham boss Marco Silva said afterwards.

Thankfully for Pereira, his manager’s anger was aimed more at the officials, who he felt robbed Fulham of a result after letting West Ham’s second goal stand. Gianluca Scamacca made it 2-1 with a super lob, though Fulham claimed he used his hand to get the ball under control.

Replays shown on the London Stadium’s big screen seemingly supported that claim, though they weren’t conclusive enough for VAR Michael Salisbury to disallow Scamacca’s dink. That infuriated Silva, who was yellow carded for his protests.

Pereira had given the visitors the lead in a hero-to-villian performance from the Brazilian

His fifth-minute strike flashed across Lukasz Fabianski in the West Ham goal 

With Fulham feeling sorry for themselves, Michail Antonio made it 3-1, securing a come-from-behind West Ham win.

Aleksandar Mitrovic had scored in every League London derby he had played this season, beating the defences of Tottenham, Arsenal and Brentford. Yet an hour before kick-off, Silva’s team news confirmed their big blow – Mitrovic was missing due to a foot injury.

It was over to their Plan B as Carlos Vinicius started for the first time in a Fulham shirt. During the international break, Silva organised a behind-closed-doors friendly with Championship Watford. Fulham won 2-1 with Vinicius scoring both their goals.

A VAR check confirmed Pereira's challenge on Craig Dawson was enough to award a penalty

The 27-year-old Brazilian is a penalty-box predator, though it was when he wasn’t available in the area that Fulham opened the scoring inside five minutes.

A fast attack saw Neeskens Kebano play a through-ball into Pereira. He looked to see if there was anyone in the box for him to find. There wasn’t, so he had a go.

It was a vicious left-footed shot that caught out Fabianski for 1-0. It almost became 2-0 after 14 minutes when Daniel James’s curled attempt crashed back off the crossbar.

The West Ham natives were frustrated by their team’s slow start and Scamacca was annoyed with himself after wasting a trio of chances to equalise. His first came in the 16th minute when he met Lucas Paqueta’s cross, only to see his header saved by Leno. In the 24th minute, Scamacca picked up a pass from Paqueta before firing narrowly beyond the far corner.

In the 26th minute came Scamacca’s greatest chance of the three. Cresswell’s cross left the goal on a plate for the £35.5million striker but his header was aimed at Leno.

Fulham survived those scares, then Pereira surrendered their lead.

When West Ham had a corner, Kavanagh paused play twice so he could warn Pereira about his wrestling with Dawson. It was too much, the referee presumably told the 26-year-old, and he had to keep it clean.

When Cresswell’s cross finally flew in, Dawson was dragged down by Pereira, who wasn’t looking at the ball. It left Kavanagh with little option other than to award a spot-kick.

‘I would be really annoyed if one of my defenders defended like that,’ West Ham manager David Moyes said afterwards. ‘If you’re going to use two arms and cup anybody, then that’s not allowed.’

In the 62nd minute, Scamacca scored, chipping the ball over Leno after yet another Paqueta ball in behind. He did not celebrate, however, perhaps knowing he still had to pass the VAR checks.

First, Salisbury confirmed it was onside. The more complicated check was whether Scamacca handled the ball in controlling it. Some replays suggested he did. Others weren’t so conclusive. Salisbury decided he could not say definitively that it was handball.

Marco Silva's side lost for the fourth time in the Premier League this season and sit ninth

Neeskens Kebano played brilliantly in the first half and assisted team-mate Pereira's opener

The goal was given and West Ham led 2-1. Replays were shown on the London Stadium’s big screens, sparking a furious reaction from anyone associated with Fulham.

As a Hail Mary, Silva brought on Shane Duffy, telling the defender to pretend he was a striker. It didn’t work.

Instead West Ham went up the other end and scored in stoppage time. Michail Antonio saw his one-on-one saved by Leno but he picked up the rebound, making it 3-1 and securing their second successive victory. 

Silva was shown a yellow for his protests after the Italian forward's goal was awarded

Scamacca scored in his third consecutive game as he begins to settle in to life in east London