Fulham 3-0 Brighton

Fulham produced a brilliant performance to see off Brighton & Hove Albion 3-0 at Craven Cottage on Saturday afternoon.

Excellent centre forward play from Rodrigo Muniz saw him tee up Harry Wilson for a lovely curling opener, and Wilson returned the favour with a perfect cross for his teammate to head home for 2-0.

We had to wait until stoppage time at the end of the second half for another goal, but it was worth the wait as Adama Traoré opened his account for the Club in front of a jubilant Hammersmith End.

Unsurprisingly following the team’s heroics in Manchester a week earlier, Marco Silva named an unchanged XI, though he was able to name Willian amongst the substitutes after the veteran had missed the Old Trafford win with a minor injury.

After a quiet start in which the only incidents of note were shots saved at either end from Julio Enciso and Harrison Reed, the Whites went in front with a trademark Wilson finish as we approached the midway point of the half.

A back-to-front move looked to have reached a dead-end when Adam Webster took control of possession, but brilliant pressing from Muniz saw him head the ball wide to his teammate – a brave nod as he took an absolute clattering for his efforts. Wilson then worked a yard of space on his left foot and curled pristinely inside the far post.

Albion threatened a quick response though some nimble Adam Lallana footwork, but his finish at the end of it landed in the Hammy End.

After being beautifully set up by Muniz, Wilson responded in kind for our second of the afternoon. Once again, Brighton allowed Wilson time on his left, and his in-swinging cross was perfect for Muniz to attack, planting an unstoppable header beyond Jason Steele.

On the back of a couple of half-time substitutions, Brighton began the second 45 sharply, winning a corner inside the first minute. From that, Lewis Dunk directed a downwards header on target, but Bernd Leno was alert to smother.

The Seagulls appeared to have learnt their lesson when it came to Wilson when he broke through on goal, keeping him on his right peg this time, causing him to drag his shot wide while running at pace.

Webster had struggled with Muniz’s physicality all afternoon, and was bullied off the ball again by the Fulham man in the 51st minute. He then squared to Wilson whose shot was blocked behind for a corner, from which Tosin headed wide.

A sloppy Brighton pass then sent Andreas Pereira in on goal. He rounded Steele but then the angle was against him, and he ended up curling wide after regaining his sight of goal.

Even Ferguson should have halved the deficit when he sprung the offside trap to get on the end of Lallana’s clever pass, but the onrushing Leno put him off and he stabbed well wide.

Muniz had the better of the Albion backline again when he ran onto Timothy Castagne’s lovely ball over the top, but he could only find the side-netting with his shot.

We were handed another opportunity from the subsequent goal-kick when Steele passed straight to Wilson, but Andreas then hit his effort directly at the Brighton goalkeeper.

Good running down the left from Antonee Robinson saw him combine with Alex Iwobi who picked out Wilson in the middle. He surely would have netted with his first time strike, had it not been for some terrific defending from Dunk.

The away side were putting on plenty of pressure as they attempted to create a nervy finale, with substitutes Facundo Buonanotte and Ansu Fati hitting the post and drawing a save from Leno, respectively.

But it was two substitutes in black and white who had the final say. Bobby De Cordova-Reid – on his 200th Fulham appearance – tackled Pascal Gross 70 yards from goal and drove forward before slipping in Traoré to his right. He took a touch to compose himself before rolling across Steele to wrap up an excellent win for his side.