The astonishing scenes at the end of this west London derby underlined why refusing to play any football is such a dangerous game. For Brentford, the cruelty was fully deserved. They were too cynical for their own good, too deep after going ahead through a vicious strike from Vitaly Janelt midway through the first half, and it was impossible not to feel that justice was done after the Fulham substitute Harry Wilson sent Craven Cottage wild with two stoppage-time goals.
Before Wilson’s dramatic interventions, it had been an exhibition of time-wasting from Brentford. Thomas Frank’s side, who once again squandered a winning position on the road, had infuriated the home crowd with their gamesmanship. There was irony in the turnaround coming during six minutes of added time.
Fulham, up to ninth after winning for the first time in four matches, had refused to give in. Marco Silva’s substitutions came off, Adama Traoré crossing for Wilson to equalise with a ridiculous volleyed flick from an outrageous angle, and Brentford could not argue that they were the better team. Reiss Nelson and Emile Smith Rowe were in bewitching form before half-time and Fulham’s relentlessness was summed up by the constant raids from their left-back, Antonee Robinson, always available on the overlap and there to dig out the cross for Wilson’s winner.
“It was an amazing feeling to come on and get the two goals,” Wilson said. “The manager told me to find space and when the ball gets wide try and get in the box and that’s what I did. The first one, I just helped it on to the back post, and the second one was more lucky.”
Frank rued the defensive lapses and pointed out that Fábio Carvalho had a chance to win it for the visitors at 1-1. “Brutal,” Brentford’s manager said. “Fine margins. The best team won but when you’re leading 1-0 away we were praising the defending. Sometimes when you can’t hit your high level you need to work hard. They threw everything at us and it was a fantastic touch from Wilson. It’s one in 100 that it goes in from that angle.”
Fulham had made a strong start, Nelson forcing a smart save from Mark Flekken after bursting beyond Mads Roerslev. Much of the play came down the left and Nelson, making his first league start since joining from Arsenal, was in an adventurous mood. Brentford struggled to contain the winger and their problems were exacerbated by the movement of Smith Rowe in central areas.
The visitors had to be tighter. They threatened sporadically, Bryan Mbeumo almost eluding Robinson, but they were more interested in spoiling. Flekken took an age over every goalkick. There was a lot of rolling around. The physios were unusually busy.
Brentford relished the gamesmanship. Then came the sucker punch. They won possession in midfield with a few bruising challenges and Christian Nørgaard found Janelt in space. The midfielder took a touch, drew back his left foot and unleashed a shot that soared past Bernd Leno from 25 yards.
Fulham felt the frustration rising. Janelt almost doubled the lead with a deflected shot from the edge of the area but the question was whether Brentford could finally hold on to a lead away from home. They had already lost from a goal up at Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham. “The reality was we didn’t lose confidence,” Silva said. “We tried and tried to push them back. I told the players to keep pushing hard.”
The second half had been a slog, Brentford sitting back, the openings drying up. Someone had to take responsibility for Fulham. Silva eventually turned to the unpredictability and pace of Traoré.
The winger drove forward, firing in crosses, one eventually finding Wilson. The Welshman had it all to do but he adjusted his body in mid-air, hung out a foot and saw the ball arc beyond Flekken, who watched in horror as it crept inside the far post.
Bedlam ensued after Wilson’s first goal of the season. Carvalho, clearly not forgiven for leaving Fulham for Liverpool two years ago, was denied from close range by Leno. Brentford were finally trying to play. Now they were open. They lost possession, Robinson crossed and Wilson headed into his own shoulder, with the ball looping past Flekken in slow motion.
