Harry Wilson’s taste for the spectacular continues to decorate Fulham’s season. In added time, the Welshman’s free-kick whipped towards Bart Verbruggen, whose failure to keep the ball out completed a regrettable afternoon for goalkeepers. Fulham had snatched an unlikely win.
When these teams fought out a draw on August’s opening day, Brighton rued missed chances and Fulham took theirs. The song remains the same. Fabian Hürzeler’s team reprised the mistakes that have kept them landlocked in mid-table.
“Sometimes football is brutal and the better team loses,” said Brighton’s manager. “We controlled the things we could control. Regarding the performance, it was one of the best we have played.”
For Fulham, Samuel Chukwueze continued to show his usefulness off the bench, his cool finish levelling out a Yasin Ayari strike with Bernd Leno, the Fulham goalkeeper, at fault. “Harsh for them to lose the game,” said Marco Silva of Brighton. He lavished praise on Wilson. “He’s been incredible for us. I am repeating every week that he is in the best moment of his career.”
Until he tired and was subbed off, the Brighton midfielder Carlos Baleba, vastly improved for his time with Cameroon in Morocco, was the best player on show. Brighton fans have also been reassured by the return of Pascal Gross, the veteran lining up closest to Danny Welbeck. Brighton’s hard and high press had Fulham scrabbling for room from the early stages.
