Harry Wilson scored twice in stoppage time as Fulham came back to beat Brentford 2-1 in an enthralling west London derby.
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Wilson was the hero from Fulham’s bench on Monday, as Marco Silva’s team – who were on the wrong end of a late comeback against Everton last time out in the Premier League – salvaged a victory from the jaws of defeat.
Fulham will feel it was a win they earned from a match they dominated from the off, with the Bees having taken the lead against the run of play through Vitaly Janelt’s stunning 24th-minute strike.
But the Fulham pressure finally told when Wilson brilliantly flicked a cross from Adama Traore in the second minute of stoppage time, and – after Bernd Leno made a superb stop to thwart Brentford at the other end – the former Liverpool midfielder nodded in again to send Craven Cottage into raptures.
Fulham’s win takes them up into ninth, while Brentford drop to 12th after suffering a fifth league loss of the season.
| Position Pos | Club | Played Pl | GD | Points Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 |
Spurs
TOT
|
10 | +11 | 16 |
| 8 |
Brighton
BHA
|
10 | +3 | 16 |
| 9 |
Fulham
FUL
|
10 | +1 | 15 |
| 10 |
Bournemouth
BOU
|
10 | +1 | 15 |
| 11 |
Newcastle
NEW
|
10 | 0 | 15 |
| 12 |
Brentford
BRE
|
10 | -1 | 13 |
How the match unfolded
Brentford goalkeeper Mark Flekken was quickly called into action, following up a comfortable stop from Fulham's Raul Jimenez’s effort with a fantastic double save to deny Reiss Nelson.
But after Emile Smith Rowe and Nelson failed to capitalise on better goalscoring chances, Fulham were left stunned as Brentford scored with their first meaningful venture forward – Janelt drilling a brilliant long-range strike into the bottom-right corner.
Keane Lewis-Potter almost doubled Brentford’s lead on the stroke of half-time, his curling effort from the edge of the box deflecting narrowly wide of the post.
Fulham continued to probe, but when Rodrigo Muniz spurned a decent chance in the 88th minute, their chances of salvaging a point appeared to be over.
Wilson, though, had other ideas, as he somehow sent a backheel spiralling over Flekken and into the left-hand side of Brentford’s goal.
Leno subsequently denied Fabio Carvalho a goal against his former club, and Wilson swiftly made his goalkeeper’s work count with a strike that came off his shoulder in the final minutes.
Fulham’s substitutes prove the difference
For so long, it looked like Fulham would be finishing the match empty handed, but Silva’s substitutes paid off as the hosts completely flipped the encounter on its head.
They had looked particularly dangerous down their left-hand side as Nelson and Antonee Robinson seamlessly linked up to carve out promising openings, but nobody in white could finish them off.
At half-time, Silva will have felt unlucky – Fulham had dominated from the first whistle, only to be caught out by a quick counter-attack (and a brilliant finish) after losing the ball in midfield, and it was clear he was not keen to make any rash changes.
Their desperation started to show as the clock ticked closer to the end of the 90th minute, though, with the likes of Alex Iwobi and Calvin Bassey sending tame long-range shots straight at Flekken.
But the introduction of Traore and, in particular, Wilson, sparked a comeback that will live long in the memory. After that duo combined down the right to restore parity, Robinson finally got some joy on the opposite flank, picking out Fulham’s matchwinner for a diving header.
Whether Wilson meant either of his finishes will matter not to Fulham.
Bees’ away day blues
Brentford have enjoyed their home comforts of late, putting on entertaining shows in thrilling wins against Wolverhampton Wanderers and Ipswich Town in their last two matches at the Gtech Community Stadium.
However, they have struggled on the road this season, although perhaps unsurprisingly given they have faced Liverpool, Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United on their travels.
It looked like they had finally turned their fortunes around on the road despite riding their luck for most of the match, with Flekken’s early interventions keeping Brentford in the match before they scored the opener.
They still struggled to make inroads against Fulham’s high press, with the usually influential Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa unable to assert themselves as the hosts wasted chance after chance.
Brentford staunchly defended against the crosses being peppered into their box, but a drop in concentration at the wrong time eventually cost them, even if Wilson’s first finish was a touch of genius (or, a slice of luck).
Club reports
Fulham report | Brentford report
What managers said
Marco Silva: "It was definitely a deserved win. We started on the front foot and dominated all the game. In the first 20 minutes we had two clear chances to score.
"After they scored we didn't lose the confidence and the trust in ourselves, we kept pushing them back and we created enough to not be losing at half-time.
"I told the players this is football, it can happen, but we have to keep pushing, working hard and playing our way."
Thomas Frank: "It was tough. It is emotionally very tough right now. When you are leading in the 92nd minute and you lose it is tough. I don't think we hit our highest level. I think on the day Fulham were better. There was a lot of good defending and effort and I thought that would have given us the win. We could have won it with the chance for Fabio Carvalho and then we lost.
"When we look at the game back and we are more cool-headed we will probably be very happy with the defensive standard. I thought there were unbelievable blocks and recovery runs and all that we did well. On the ball, we didn't do enough."
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Key facts
Wilson netted Fulham’s latest-ever winner in a Premier League match at 96 minutes and 46 seconds, also becoming just the fifth sub to score a brace for the Cottagers in a Premier League match (also Erik Nevland, Diomansy Kamara and Collins John twice).
Brentford are the first side in Premier League history to score the first goal in four consecutive away matches and lose all four.
Fulham’s Harry Wilson became just the sixth player to score an equalising and match winning goal from the 90th minute onwards in a Premier League match and the first to do so since Cole Palmer for Chelsea against Manchester United in April 2024.
Janelt scored with Brentford’s first shot of the match, with the German netting his first goal in 10 Premier League appearances and only his second in his last 60.
