Player ratings: Fulham 2-1 Brentford

Simply one of the great nights at the Cottage. It was looking like our rivals were going to come to the Cottage and, despite complete Fulham domination, pull off the ultimate smash-and-grab victory. However, Harry Wilson had other ideas, and single handedly pulled off one of the greatest cameos South London has ever witnessed. Those final stages are memories that’ll live forever for those that witnessed it live. COME ON FULHAM!

Bernd Leno

In general, a solid performance. Nothing to critique in terms of handling or punching, a very decent showing in terms of showing concentration when needed in a game where most of the action was at the other end. Hard to know how to judge a goalkeeper that concedes from range but it’s hard to do anything other than praise Janelt for his strike. Ultimately, Leno made an unbelievable save from Carvalho seconds before Fulham went up the other end, and ensured it was us that took all three points. 6.5/10.

Kenny Tete

Didn’t have much to do in the first half of the game with a lot of Brentford’s attacking output going through the other side of the pitch, mostly through the dangerous combination of Mbuemo and Wissa. Made a couple of vital interceptions and challenges whilst facing his own goal at 0-1 which kept us in a game we were dominating. Good strike in the second half that stung the gloves of Flekken when others were reluctant to shoot from range. 7/10.

Joachim Andersen

Showed some incredible composure on the ball at 0-0, playing out beautifully from the right side of our defence, frequently giving Tete outlets when he was being pressed fiercely towards his own corner flag. Lost his man a couple of times in the second half which may have shown a couple of lapses of concentration in a game where we had little defending to do. 6/10.

Calvin Bassey

Really strong early on in his duels with Mbuemo and Wissa, frequently winning duels using his physical ability alone and releasing pressure from the rest of his defence by marshalling long balls out for goal kicks and calmly dealing with balls into the box. Ball progression was solid which was important in a game where Fulham dominated possession. Quite a quiet game for Bassey, but nothing to critique. 6.5/10.

Antonee Robinson

Frequently beat Mbuemo to long balls and in chasing balls down the channel, neutralising arguably Brentford’s biggest attacking threat this season. Often found space in the left attacking channel, constantly delivering dangerous crosses. Varied his attacking runs over and over, changing from underlapping runs to overlapping runs to bamboozle the Bees defence. Eventually got his reward with an assist for the winning goal. 8/10.

Sander Berge

Comfortably the Norweigan’s best performance in a Fulham shirt, and another sign that Berge is growing in confidence and stature at the club. Showed nice signs of being able to go some way to filling in the Palhinha void by dispossessing Brentford frequently on the halfway line and then using his ball progression skills to push Fulham forward through carrying the ball ten yards or playing precise, short passes. Maybe could have taken a long shot or two as things got desperate but it mattered not in the end. Made an incredible block on 96 minutes to deny Brentford the win after Leno had saved from Fabio. Would probably have got man of the match but…yeah something remarkable happened. 8/10.

Andreas Pereira

An improved showing on recent weeks. Linked play beautifully early on when Fulham played some gorgeous, neat football which helped us to create in the final third. Showed superb aggression to win lots of challenges in Brentford’s half which helped us to transition quickly and get the ball into their box. Still some frustrations, especially with his ineffective corner deliveries and slowness to close down Janelt for his goal, but overall not a bad showing. 7/10.

Emile Smith Rowe

Really showed his quality in small pockets of spaces when he was able to find his teammates with one touch despite having multiple Brentford shirts around him. Nice to see a willingness to drop deep to receive the ball and drive his team forward. Still feel he needs to be more aggressive in duels if he’s to work well in a midfield three if I’m honest but hopefully that’s a work in progress. 6.5/10

Alex Iwobi

Quite anonymous in the first half, not due to his own abilities but mostly due to Fulham’s attacking play majorly coming from the left. Led to slight frustrations, drifting inside to try and get the ball which ended up in rushed passes. Instantly got into the game more in the second half and saw an effort from the edge of the ball just drift wide. Helped link play to the wingers well in the closing stages when he moved inside to accommodate Adama coming on in his position. 6/10.

Reiss Nelson

Every time this boy gets the ball he fills you with pure joy. In this era of football, it is so endearing to a fanbase who love beautiful football as we do to frequently see a wide player pick the ball up and show no fear in taking on whichever defender he is faced with. Nelson’s superb dribbling abilities got him into all sorts of good positions and while, of course, he will be frustrated not to score any of the first half chances that he had, it was still a showing that proves he has a huge role to play this season. 7.5/10.

Raul Jimenez

It might be strange to say but with half an hour on the clock, I was quietly impressed with Raul despite him only having six touches, mostly because it seemed like he was using the ball effectively with every single touch. Sadly, not too much service fell his way throughout, whether that be his positioning or the crosses coming in, and he faded out of the contest until he was replaced by Muniz. 6/10.

Substitutes

Adama Traore (65’ for Andreas Pereira)

Made an extremely positive difference of the bench, living up to his previous reputation of being a wonderful impact player. His sleek footwork instantly created chances for Bassey and eventually Wilson in the closing stages for the equalising goal. 7.5/10.

Rodrigo Muniz (72’ for Raul Jimenez)

Didn’t look too sharp or strong off the bench. Feels like his spark was missing a little, which could be down to a lack of minutes and thus a lack of self-confidence. Wilson showed the need to disrupt the Brentford box late on, Muniz did not. 5.5/10.

Timothy Castagne (72’ for Kenny Tete)

Didn’t really add too much for Fulham but ultimately linked up well with Adama and Wilson late on to help us create chances. The biggest positive is to see Castagne on the pitch after missing a few weeks with injury. 6/10.

Harry Wilson (82 for Reiss Nelson)

What can you say other than to build the statue. That cameo will live on in Fulham folklore forever more. Wilson instantly added pace to the attack and constantly got into dangerous areas, proven by his two goals, regardless of how they went in. That goalscoring instinct and confidence has been bred from his form for Wales and despite the queue of more in form wingers ahead of him, it’s wonderful to see Wilson have his crowning moment at the Cottage, what a guy. 10/10, obviously he’s man of the match!

Tom Cairney (82’ for  Emile Smith Rowe)

With apologies to the captain, I was too busy hyperventilating over Harry Wilson to know he was on the pitch. 6/10.