4 November 2024
Fulham 2 Brentford 1
Two sides who have made indifferent starts to the season met at Craven Cottage. Both Fulham and Brentford find themselves in mid-table but are comfortably clear of the bottom three. Consistency has been the problem for both managers, something they will need to address if they want to exceed expectations for their campaigns.
Nelson had the first chance for the hosts as he cut in from the left flank. He looked to beat Flekken at his near post but the keeper made a good block. The ball broke to The Cottagers’ winger but his follow-up effort was smothered by The Bees’ stopper. It was an early sign of intent from Marco Silva’s side that they were looking for three points in the capital.
The hosts were finding it all too easy to play through the visitors’ midfield. Smith-Rowe played a neat one-two before having a sight of goal himself. As he looked to unleash a shot, it was blocked and deflected behind for a corner. Flekken was being kept the busier of the two keepers as Brentford struggled to get a foothold in the game.
Since his move from North London, Nelson has struggled to impress at Craven Cottage. That was until this game. He was showing the sort of form that had Arsenal with such high hopes for him. He weaved his way in between defenders with some lovely footwork, before dragging his shot wide of the near post. Fulham were just lacking that killer instinct in front of goal.
Both these sides have relatively small squads and have had to deal with losing big players in the summer. Fulham saw Joao Palhinha move to Bayern Munich while the on/off transfer saga of Ivan Toney was finally brought to an end as he headed to Saudi Arabia. It seemed a bizarre move until you discovered he was being paid £800k per week.
Brentford ventured forward for their first attack of the game. Some neat interplay saw the ball played into the path of Janelt. With limited options either side of him, he opted to go for goal from some distance. His left-footed strike arrowed into the bottom corner of the goal with Leno beaten. It silenced the home fans as they were hit with the ultimate sucker punch.
It was the defender’s first goal in a Brentford shirt and what a way it was to get off the mark. He is unlikely to catch a strike better than that one. As soon as it left his foot, it began to bend from one way to the other, meaning it was out of reach of the Fulham keeper. Marco Silva did not look pleased having seen his side dominate the early stages.
Goals seems to be like buses, you wait ages for one then two come along at once. The Bees were growing in confidence and starting to pass their way through the Fulham defence. It was finally laid into the path of Janelt on the edge of the box who fancied his chances again. His effort took a slight deflection and missed the near post by the narrowest of margins.
In a game of few chances, it looked like Brentford were going to hold on for a narrow victory. The longer the match went on, the more frustrated the hosts were becoming. Marco Silva tried to make some changes to mix things up but nothing seemed to work. It got to the stage where Thomas Frank opted to try and hold onto to what they had.
In the main, The Cottagers have looked impressive at home this season. They were no longer a ‘soft touch’ for sides visiting the capital to take three points home with them. However, in this London derby that seemed to be exactly what was going to happen. The home fans tried to get behind their side but the creativity had just seemed to dwindle.
The Fulham manager then opted to bring on former Liverpool player Harry Wilson. Deep into added time, The Cottagers seemed to need some form of miracle. The Premier League tends to deliver these with regularity. Traore got down the right flank and crossed the ball to the near post. Wilson flicked it with the outside of his boot, looping over the keeper into the far corner.
Craven Cottage erupted as it appeared they had grabbed a point from the jaws of defeat. It was a sublime finish from the Welshman and he seemed to enjoy it. However, with plenty of time added on, both sides could still win this game. After their goal, Fulham grew in confidence. Silva barked some orders from the touchline and the ground was rocking.
Roerslev got forward for the visitors and cut the ball back from the byline. Carvalho met it and it was well-blocked by Leno in the Fulham goal. It seemed a goal was certain as he struck it but the hosts’ keeper had other ideas. They were throwing their bodies on the line to try and take a point from this game. It was no more than they had deserved based on this performance.
Then the unbelievable happened. In the seventh minute of added time, Robinson did well down the left and clipped a ball into the box. Wilson made a late run and headed into the far corner to send the home fans wild. The replay showed it may have come off his shoulder but nobody cared. Fulham had completed the ultimate comeback.
All three points went to The Cottagers and the visitors were left with a deflated feeling. They thought they had this game won until Wilson came off the bench in added time. The Welshman put in a man of the match performance to step up to the plate when his side needed it most. The win took them up to ninth place in the table, two points clear of Brentford.
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