Harry Wilson stepped off the Fulham bench to net the winner against Brentford for the second time this season as their 3-2 victory kept their narrow European hopes alive.
The winger’s stunning 20-yard curler left Mark Flekken motionless to move Fulham a point behind their west London rivals in eighth spot – which may be enough for a Europa Conference League place – two minutes after Tom Cairney had pulled them level.
“Harry is probably wondering why he doesn’t play against Brentford every single week!” quipped his head coach Marco Silva after the game.
Fulham were indebted to their substitutes for victory, having deservedly trailed 2-1 at half-time before Cairney was introduced for the restart and Wilson 20 minutes later – three minutes and 31 seconds before he netted the winner.
Those goals took the heat off referee Jarred Gillett, whose performance had long threatened to overshadow the result 24 hours after he was at the centre of controversy for his part in failing to send off Crystal Palace goalkeeper Dean Henderson in the FA Cup final.
This time he inexplicably let both Kenny Tete and Yoane Wissa off what appeared clear second bookable offences – with the latter almost immediately going on to prod home from a yard to give Brentford that 2-1 lead.
Raul Jimenez had begun the scoring after a quarter of an hour by nodding in the opener from Adama Traore’s cross, before Bryan Mbeumo’s smart finish levelled matters.
Mbeumo missed a golden chance to complete a first-half turnaround when he was denied by Bernd Leno from 12 yards after Kevin Schade had been fouled, but Wissa soon turned home Christian Norgaard’s goal-bound header – when he should’ve been taking an early bath.
In the end, the DR Congo forward’s involvement proved immaterial following Fulham’s second-half resurgence, which secured their all-time record Premier League points tally with a game to spare and kept them dreaming of Europe.
Frank: We deserved more
Brentford head coach Thomas Frank:
“Overall in the 90 minutes, it was one of our better games, especially the first half. We were in complete control, scoring two goals and missing a penalty.
“We won it high so many times to go in for the kill. Overall, we deserved more from it but we need to do better. It’s fine margins – two deflected crosses which landed perfectly on their heads, and a great finish from Wilson.”
Silva: Fulham deserve more respect
Fulham head coach Marco Silva:
“This morning, I was reading some things mentioning three or four clubs that could get into Europe, but not Fulham. They probably don’t look at the table properly or don’t respect us like we deserve.
“They forgot a team that is fighting really hard and playing really good football most of the time this season.”
Story of the match in stats…
What’s coming up in the Premier League?
Sky Sports to show 215 live PL games from next season
Sky Sports to show 215 live Premier League games from next season
From next season, Sky Sports’ Premier League coverage will increase from 128 matches to at least 215 games exclusively live.
And 80 per cent of all televised Premier League games next season are on Sky Sports.
