Brighton 2-1 Fulham

Fulham suffered a heart-breaking 2-1 loss against Brighton on Saturday afternoon at the Amex Stadium.

A first half beauty from Raúl Jiménez in the 35th minute was cancelled out minutes later by Jan Paul van Hecke. With the well matched sides heading towards a draw João Pedro swept home a last second penalty to see the three points remain in Sussex. 

Marco Silva made three changes from the side that ran out victors over Manchester United in the Emirates FA Cup just under a week ago. Issa Diop, Emile Smith Rowe & Jiménez came into the starting XI in place of Saša Lukić, Adama Traoré & Rodrigo Muniz. These changes saw a shift in formation from Marco Silva to combat a red-hot Brighton side. 

On a beautiful afternoon on the South Coast the match started in a cagey fashion with neither side able to trouble the opposing goalkeeper in the opening quarter of the encounter.

In the 22nd minute we started to enjoy increased spells in possession and a lofted cross from Timothy Castagne from the right flank fell nicely to Smith Rowe on the edge of the box. With little time to react Emile snatched at his effort and his left-footed effort deflected wide of the post. 

Fulham continued to grow and in the 35th minute we took the lead in breathless fashion.
Alex Iwobi found space on the right flank and surged forward unchallenged before whipping in a delicious cross deep to the back post. Jiménez, unmarked but with plenty of work still left to be done, chested down the delivery and lashed a left-footed drive into the back of net. A delightful counterattack from Fulham worthy of opening the scoring. 

We were unable to make our lead last and in the 41st minute the hosts pulled level. A speculative set-piece delivery swung into the back post was met by a cushioned header back across goal from van Hecke which cannoned off the post and found the net. 

It was evens stevens as the referee brought the first half to a close, with all to play for in second period. 

Brighton started the second half the brighter. After João Pedro went close just after the restart Kaoru Mitoma had a goal ruled out for offside in the build-up. Brighton were ramping up the pressure and we would need to be alert and composed against a smooth Seagulls outfit.

After weathering the pressure in the opening quarter of the second half Fulham regained their composure and started to work their way back into the contest. In the 70th minute Marco Silva introduced Muniz to offer an aerial outlet we were craving.  

As the match entered the final 15 the minutes it became increasingly cagey and tight. However, in the 79th minute we had a sight on goal. Antonee Robinson, contained for large parts of the afternoon found some space on the left wing. An inch perfect cut-back found Iwobi on the edge of the box, but his effort lacked power and deflected harmlessly wide. 

After some nervy moments late on, including another goal ruled out for offside Brighton stole the victory in the final seconds of additional time. A ball in behind the Fulham back line was greeted by a group of players. In the mele Harrison Reed struck the back of Pedro’s leg and the striker dramatically took a tumble. The penalty was awarded, and it was down the Bernd Leno to once again be the hero. The German keeper guessed the right way but could not keep the shot out. 

A gut punch to end what was a tight fought match. We will look to bounce back next week as we host Tottenham at Craven Cottage.