Fulham 3-2 Brentford - The look back

Aug 22, 2022

These are heady days! And I don't use exclamation marks lightly.

For the fist 44 minutes of Saturday's game a win seemed nailed on; Bobby De Cordova-Reid popped the ball home within the first minute, after Jay Stansfield hit the bar. Once Joao Palhinha scored a bullet header on 20 minutes we were cooking.

But then things changed. Nørgaard scored unmarked from a corner just before half time, and we were spooked. For the next 35 minutes of the second half we were nearly unrecognisable. Brentford equalised through Ivan Toney, who proceeded to emulate (or mock) Mitro's Luca Toni-inspired goal celebration.

Perhaps that woke the beast. Mitro, who for large swathes of the game cut a frustrated figure and missed a number of chances, rose like a salmon in the final minute to head in from a pin-point ball from substitute Kevin Mbabu and the Cottage erupted.

Our next four games are tough. Really tough. These points are a great platform and if we can add a couple more by mid-September, we'll still be looking strong.

It took us nine games to surpass five points last time out. These sides are not the same. Enjoy. You Whites.

WHAT THEY SAID

▪️Marco Silva: We believe in ourselves, our philosophy and in our way. We know there will be good moments and bad moments, and we have to keep reacting. We're pleased with how we've started the season, but we could even have had - and obviously would have wanted - more points.

▪️Tom Cairney: Long overdue London derby W in the Prem. Cottage was bouncing!

▪️Ben Jarman: This game could easily have been what that Brighton game was in 2018/19, but these boys and this manager are made of tougher stuff.