Fulham 2-1 Brentford: Harry Wilson comes off the bench to net a stoppage-time brace for Marco Silva’s side as they secure bragging rights in the west London derby

 Harry Wilson came off the bench to pluck three points out of nowhere for Fulham, striking twice deep in added time to cancel out Vitaly Janelt’s first half stunner in a hugely dramatic west London derby at Craven Cottage.

Throughout the milling concourse of Craven Cottage before kick-off, fans offered their predictions for the scoreline. Most frequent answers included 3-2 to Fulham, 2-2 or even a 3-3 draw. But not many would have seen this one coming.

Fulham had dominated the clash for the vast majority of the game, but with 92 minutes on the clock found themselves 1-0 down to a Brentford team that had executed their own game plan to perfection, Vitaly Janelt putting them ahead with a 24th-minute stunner.

But with Marco Silva throwing his bench at the stubborn and belligerent Brentford defence, Wilson at last found the breakthrough with two late, late daggers into the heart of Thomas Frank’s visitors to complete one of the most dramatic comebacks of the season.

Fulham raced out of the blocks, and it took just five minutes for Emile Smith Rowe to work his magic, inviting Reiss Nelson to fly into the box and aim for the bottom near corner, but was twice denied by Mark Flekken.

The Welshman netted twice in the closing stages as the Cottagers secured all three points

Brentford had found themselves on the back foot for much of the west London derby

Seven minutes later, Nelson took on the entire Brentford back line in a driving, squirming run, but the only thing he couldn’t outrun was himself, a clumsy touch denying him a chance at a goal of the season contender.

It was all Fulham early on. On 16 minutes Smith Rowe played a beautiful one-two with Antonee Robinson to ghost his way into the box, only for a goal-saving challenge from Nathan Collins to deny the hosts again.

Key to the hosts’ dominance was their three former Arsenal stars, with Smith Rowe in particular offering Gunners fans plenty of food for thought, particularly with Mikel Arteta’s creativity somewhat stifled of late in the absence of captain Martin Odegaard.

But for all their pressure, the hosts could not make their chances count, and in football we all know what often comes next.

On 24 minutes, a sloppy touch from Calvin Bassey was punished by Vitaly Janelt. Mikkel Damsgaard pinched it off the defender’s toes to recycle possession in the attacking third, and within a few passes, Christian Norgaard fed Janelt, who fired the Bees into the lead with a brilliant effort from outside the box against the run of play.

That suckerpunch did momentarily take the wind out of Fulham’s sails, but they ended the half on top once more, Smith Rowe coming close to the equaliser his performance more than merited, his header blocked en route to Flekken on 43 minutes to see the Bees go in ahead at the break. They may not have dominated the game, but they had made their chances pay on the night.

Brentford may not have seen much of the ball, but to their credit the Bees were much tighter at the back. Smith Rowe and Nelson were unable to exploit space in behind the full backs as they had in the first half, and suddenly Fulham’s possession seemed blunted.

Marco Silva rang the changes, with Adama Traore injected into the attack, but even he could not bulldoze his way through the Bees resolute defence.

Marco Silva’s side looked bright early with Emile Smith-Rowe a consistent threat 

But it was Brentford who drew first blood as Vitaly Janelt opened the scoring

Striker unleashed a thunderous strike from outside the box to give his side the lead

Fulham continued to press forward throughout, and Wilson’s introduction turned the game on its head

More changes came with Wilson entering the fray on 82 minutes, and still the pressure ratcheted up from Fulham. On 85 minutes the hosts thought they had finally got their winner, when Joachim Andersen leapt highest from a corner, but his header flew straight into the arms of Flekken.

Six minutes added and the energy graduated from frustrated to desperate, until finally Wilson made the breakthrough. It wasn’t conventional, and he’d be hard-pressed to defend whether it was even intentional, but the Welsh winger flicked on a Traore cross to the near post to dip over Flekken’s head. Queue the rapturous outburst from some 20,000 extremely tense fans.

But that was nothing compared to the roar that greeted Wilson’s second, coming on 97 minutes no less, a stooping header that found its way into the back of the net to send Craven Cottage into chaos.