Fulham 3-2 Brentford

Fulham secured their first win of the season after defeating West London rivals Brentford 3-2 in the clubs' first ever meeting in the top flight of English football.

Bobby De Cordova-Reid opened the scoring first with just seconds on the clock, which was quickly followed by a first goal from João Palhinha. Brentford fought back to level the scores through Christian Nørgaard and Ivan Toney but Mr. Inevitable himself, Aleksandar Mitrović popped up in the 90th minute to grab all three points in the first West London derby of the season.

Marco made two changes to the side that faced Wolverhampton Wanderers last Saturday, with Bernd Leno coming in for Marek Rodák and it was a first start in the Premier League for our very own Jay Stansfield, fresh from his first taste of top flight football when he came on as a substitute last time out.

On the bench, academy regulars Luke Harris and Terry Ablade came into the fold - Harris fresh from his hattrick against Chelsea earlier in the week.

It was the fastest of starts for the Whites, 45 seconds to be precise, when Bobby eventually put the ball in the back of the net following a scramble in front of goal.

Mitro had a go first, but it was deflected out onto the left, where he crossed the ball in to meet Stansfield, whose shot was tipped onto the crossbar and back out to Bobby who made sure it went into the back of the net.

More chances for Fulham followed, the first coming from Andreas, whose shot from distance was comfortably stopped by David Raya, before Stansfield found himself on the break but his shot on goal was straight at the visitors’ ‘keeper.

We thought we were two goals to the good when Aleksandar Mitrović put the ball in the back of net but the linesman was quick to put his flag up to wave it offside, a decision VAR agreed with.

With 20 minutes on the clock, Fulham really took control of the game when the two new-boys combined via a corner swung in from Andreas Pereira, which was headed home by João Palhinha, for his first goal in Fulham colours to make it 2-0. Both Mitro and João climbed for the header but it was the latter who got there first.

The Whites couldn’t quite hold out Brentford for the break when Christian Nørgaard volleyed home an effort when left unmarked from a corner. Leno had no chance of stopping that one.

Into the second-half, and it looked as though Ivan Toney had levelled the score in the 49^th minute, only for it to be ruled out for offside two minutes later by VAR, much to the delight of the Fulham fans inside the Cottage.

Having been brought down himself, Andreas stood over a free-kick, which he deliciously lifted over the wall and nearly under Raya’s crossbar but he pulled out a respectable save to tip it over for a corner.

In the 66^th minute, Mitro was given the ball on a plate to him by a Brentford defender, but Raya did well to meet our number nine and push his shot away.

In the 71^st minute, Brentford’s pressure prevailed when Yoane Wisa whipped in the ball across the face of goal, to be slotted home by Toney and to bring the score to 2-2. Noticeably, Toney mimicked the iconic celebration of Mitro for a second time in the game (the first coming after the goal ruled out earlier) - everyone has an idol.

With the introduction of Thomas Cairney and Kevin Mbabu, they quickly combined to create an unbelievable chance for Mitro, when Kevin’s cross was inch perfect for the forward but a spectacular save from Raya kept the ball out of his net.

We could almost copy and paste the last paragraph, as Mbabu once again whipped in a ball that met the head of Mitrović in the 90^th minute, but this time, Raya couldn't keep it out. The Cottage erupted as Mitro continues his fine form and proves he is more than capable of doing it in the Premier League.

And that capped off what was a productive afternoon in West London, as Fulham secured their first win of the season in dramatic style.