Harry Wilson grabs winner as Fulham sink Brentford in seesaw thriller

Marco Silva says Harry Wilson will “want to play Brentford every week” after he stung the Bees for a second time this season with the winner in Fulham’s 3-2 west London derby victory at the Gtech Community Stadium.

Wilson, who had his contract extended during the week until next summer – and scored a stoppage‑time double in Fulham’s 2-1 win against Brentford in November, replicated his heroics with a stunning long-range strike in the 70th minute.

Raúl Jiménez’s opener put the ­visitors ahead before Yoane Wissa and Bryan Mbeumo both scored their 19th goals of the Premier League campaign. Mbeumo had a chance to claim his 20th but his first-half penalty was saved by Bernd Leno.

Tom Cairney came off the bench to nod in the equaliser moments before Wilson added the Cottagers’ third.

Silva said of Wilson: “He’s an important player and a very good player for us. Of course the ­feeling for him against Brentford is ­fantastic and he’s probably thinking right now: ‘Why don’t I play against ­Brentford every week?’ We knew we could do it today in a special game and in a derby. Their frontline has nearly 50 goals in the Premier League. We knew we had to be strong to be in control of the situation.”

Both sides’ European hopes were dented on Saturday by ­Crystal ­Palace’s FA Cup victory against ­Manchester City, which means eighth spot may no longer secure a Con­ference League place.

Wissa squandered a golden chance from a one-on-one at one end moments before Fulham converted in the 16th minute. Adama Traoré, whose contract at Craven Cottage was extended by a year this week, whipped in a looping delivery and Jiménez produced enough power on his header to prevent Mark Flekken from keeping the ball out.

The crowd was playing its part in a feisty affair, with both sides opting to go end to end. But it was Brentford who pounced not long after Jiménez’s goal to level the scores in the 22nd minute. Traoré went from hero to villain when he had his pocket picked in midfield and Wissa linked with Mbeumo on the right of the box before the latter drilled his effort with his weaker right foot into the bottom-left corner.

Minutes later Joachim Andersen brought Kevin Schade down in the area but Mbeumo saw his penalty saved by Bernd Leno. Brentford’s persistence was eventually rewarded, however, with their physical advantage paying dividends off a set piece.

Fulham failed to deal with a long throw and the Brentford captain, Christian Nørgaard, was on hand at the back post to nod his effort through the palms of Leno before Wissa prodded the ball over the line.

Fulham forced a 68th-minute leveller through Cairney, who nodded home from close range. Two minutes later, shouts of “shoot” from the away fans rung around the stadium, with Wilson obliging with a curved effort from distance that left Flekken rooted to the spot.

Fulham’s win against their neighbours means their 54-point tally is a club record in the Premier League. “It’s something this group must be proud of, it was one of our goals of the season,” Silva said.

“It’s something we wanted to achieve two seasons ago when we were close, we have different goals but that was one of the main ones because we knew that if we broke the record then we would be in a position to fight for things.”

Brentford’s four‑match winning run ended with this result. Asked whether his side deserved more the manager, Thomas Frank, said: “Yes, definitely but unfortunately it’s football. Our first half was one of our better from this season. We controlled the game and had some good chances and had half opportunities when winning it high and going for the kill.

“I don’t think there was two goals in it in the second half. It’s small ­margins, they’re two deflected crosses which landed perfectly on Jiménez and Cairney’s head.”

PA Media