But before the 20-year-old striker could test Edwin Van der Saar in the Fulham goal, his England Under-21 colleague Zat Knight chopped him down and was immediately shown a red card.
Hammers skipper Paolo Di Canio drove home the spot kick to complete the victory that his side had just about deserved.
It could have been a very different match if Defoe had not been denied by the offside flag in the sixth minute after skilfully converting Joe Cole's intelligent throughball.
West Ham created the better opportunities of a poor first half but it was not until the 36th minute that Van Der Saar was really tested.
Di Canio broke swiftly down the left and found Sinclair bursting into the box but the wide man's first-time effort was brilliantly pushed over by the Dutch keeper.
That roused the hosts, especially striker Steve Marlet.
After a blistering run by Luis Boa Morte the £11million Frenchman side-footed Fulham's best chance of the game narrowly wide. Then Marlet was well placed to take Steed Malbranque's pass but saw his hurried effort flash past the post.
The Hammers defence always looked comfortable and with Cole and Di Canio creating the better opportunities their eventual success was well deserved.
Kickoff 23rd October 2002 19:45 at Loftus Road | |
Referee: Styles, R. | Attendance: 15,858 |
Final Result | |
Fulham 0 | West Ham 1 |
P.Di Canio (89 pen) |
Yellow Cards | |
L.Boa Morte, 33, unsporting behaviour S.Marlet, 90, dissent | T.Repka, 9, unsporting behaviour E.Cisse, 42, unsporting behaviour C.Dailly, 73, unsporting behaviour |
Red Cards | |
Z.Knight, 88, professional foul |
Match Squads | |
Fulham 0 | West Ham 1 |
1. E.Van der Sar 2. S.Finnan 3. A.Melville 4. Z.Knight 5. P.Wome Nlend 6. S.Legwinski 7. J.Inamoto 8. S.Malbranque 9. L.Boa Morte 10. S.Marlet 11. B.Hayles | 1. D.James 2. C.Dailly 3. T.Repka 4. I.Pearce 5. S.Minto 6. T.Sinclair 7. E.Cisse 8. M.Carrick 9. J.Cole 10. J.Defoe 11. P.Di Canio |
Substitutes | |
12. M.Taylor 13. J.Collins 14. M.Djetou(46) 15. A.Ouaddou 16. A.Stolcers(78) | 12. R.van der Gouw 13. N.Winterburn 14. G.Breen 15. R.Garcia 16. T.Camara |