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Junior Stanislas climbed off the bench to earn West Ham a point in a 2-2 draw with Fulham at Upton Park.

Carlton Cole headed West Ham in to an early lead and they looked set to go on and claim a comfortable win when Kagiso Dikgacoi was dismissed leaving Fulham with ten men.

However, Danny Murphy levelled from the spot seconds into the second half and Zoltan Gera seized on a Robert Green error to volley Fulham ahead.

West Ham looked out of ideas and time when Stanislas saw his low drive deflected beyond the unfortunate Mark Schwarzer to earn the home side a point.

The cagey opening to the game was washed away by a fine set-piece goal from West Ham on 15 minutes.

Alessandro Diamanti flipped in a ball from wide on the right and Cole climbed above his marker to head home for his sixth goal in his last six league games.

Fulham were rarely seen as an attacking force in the opening half hour, aside from Andy Johnson's bright run beyond Matthew Upson that was not matched by the finish. Diomansy Kamara attempted to lift his side back in to the game with a solo run and shot, but Green was well positioned to make the save.

Scott Parker shrugged off a nasty blow to the head to control the midfield and he tested Schwarzer's handling with a low drive from 25 yards.

The temperature was ramped up five minutes before the break when Dikgacoi was shown a straight red card following a coming together with Parker.

It was not immediately obvious what had happened, but Cottagers chief Roy Hodgson was left seething on the sidelines.

The Hammers had chances to put the game to bed before the break, but Mark Noble shot weakly at Schwarzer, Zavon Hines lashed a shot wide and Diamanti sliced wide from 16 yards.

Fulham hit West Ham with a sucker punch seconds in to second half as Upson got in a tangle trying to deal with Kamara and conceded a penalty and the ice-cool Murphy made no mistake from the spot.

The goal sent confidence coursing through the Fulham veins and they duly took the lead on 58 minutes.

Green went from hero to zero inside 60 seconds as, moments after turning Paul Konchesky's deflected free kick round the post, he left his line in search of a corner but got nowhere near the ball and Gera came in at the back post to slot home.

West Ham laid siege to the Fulham goal in the final 20 minuets and found a way through in stoppage-time, as Stanislas drove a shot on goal that flicked off Aaron Hughes and beyond Schwarzer.

There was still time for Fulham to win the game and they should have done just that, as substitute Eddie Johnson dashed forward and beat the wayward Green to the ball. He had an open goal but cut inside on to his right foot, this gave Green and a defender the time to get back and he screwed his shot wide.

Eurosport