Defensive masterclass falls short as Brentford left stunned by last-gasp Fulham double | OneFootball

Brentford kept dominant hosts at bay until final minute of stoppage-time

However strong Fulham’s command of this game, it was nothing but tremendously cruel on Brentford to be denied victory and a place in the top half of the Premier League so late.

They entered stoppage time ahead; they ended it defeated.

Thomas Frank and his players looked utterly dejected as they staggered off the Craven Cottage pitch, battered, bruised, beaten by a Harry Wilson injury-time double that killed what would, for Brentford, have been a defensive masterclass of a victory.

It felt a peculiar trick of the mind that the scoreboard read 1-0 Brentford when referee Stuart Attwell blew for half-time, such was Fulham’s measure of control. The Bees’ share of the ball to that point had been just 35 per cent, and Emile Smith Rowe and Reiss Nelson were causing Mads Roerslev all sorts of problems down Brentford’s right side.

For all of the talk pre-game on Sky Sports’ coverage and in Thomas Frank’s press conference about the need not to waste possession by shooting from long distances, it was, with a certain ironic inevitability, a strike from range that sent Brentford in at half-time ahead.

Mikkel Damsgaard may have been outmuscled by the significantly broader Sander Berge most of the evening, but his one significant contribution of the match saw him seize on a poor touch by Calvin Bassey. What a blistering finish it was that followed. Vitaly Janelt arrowed into the corner.

In football as much as anywhere else, success breeds expectation for success, and Bryan Mbeumo’s awesome goalscoring exploits this season seemed to play on his mind rather than buoy him up.

The stocky wide man could be seen cursing to himself over a lack of service down the right, and then in one tussle near corner flag with Bassey it was he, rather than Bassey, who took things too far and committed a needless foul born of frustration.

No goal this time for Mbeumo, but his team-mates kept alert to his whereabouts at all times. On one occasion, Christian Norgaard looked up, saw Mbeumo belting forward, and didn’t give it a second thought before clipping a pass into the channel.

Before Janelt’s goal and particularly in the 66 minutes after it, the Bees dug in for all of normal time. The two Merseyside clubs are the only teams with greater win rates from aerial duels than the Bees this season, and Brentford were making good on their height advantage over their hosts.

Only Ipswich Town and Wolves have conceded more goals this season than Brentford. How pleased Frank will have been at their resolute showing at Craven Cottage, then — until injury time, when Wilson had the last laugh… twice.

Brentford trek back across West London distraught. This one could take some time to come back from. Bournemouth visit the Gtech on Saturday. Will clarity have returned by then? Time will tell.