Player Ratings: Fulham 3-1 Brentford
The player ratings are in after a third consecutive derby win over the bus stop in Hounslow.
Fulham made it three league victories in a row over their buzzy neighbours for the first time in 96 years at Craven Cottage, with the Whites prevailing from behind in front of a raucous home atmosphere that took Fulham to seventh in the Premier League at the time of writing. This derby delight feels all the lot sweeter following recent events at Stamford Bridge, and hopefully this is the win that provides Fulham with a real platform to kick on from this season.
Bernd Leno
Can’t really fault Leno for the goal, it would have been harder for Damsgaard to miss, though he does commit himself to diving one way rather than make himself big. Aerially, thought he was superb, punching well and winning fouls from a number of set piece and long throw situations. Particular credit needs to be applied for the ninth minute throw-in, which nearly went in off his own legs, but the German did well to collect the ball from underneath his own body. 6.5/10
Kenny Tete
Didn’t really contribute to the game in an attacking sense with more of a threat coming from the left throughout, though his partnership with Wilson still looked handy, even if every pass did seem safe rather than imaginative. Thought Kenny did very well to pin back Keane Lewis-Potter and prevent him from helping Schade in creating overloads down the left channels. Very steady performance. 6.5/10
Joachim Andersen
A game that very much epitomised Joa’s really good start to this season. It seemed evident to me watching the game that he defended the box well and bossed Thiago in the air, but a game-high 11 clearances is a mammoth statistic. His long diagonal ball to Sessegnon to set us on our way to our third goal was astronomical in its length and accuracy, one of his nine completed long passes in this one. Also worth noting he’s due a goal. After good chances against United and Chelsea from corners, he came close to scoring from back to back corners again here in the 15th minute, with Kelleher producing a strong punch to save the first. 8.5/10 – Man of the match
Calvin Bassey
Still think he’s lacking the normal confidence and positivity on the ball so far this season and nearly got caught out trying to be too clever early on against Thiago in the corner. Defensively thought he was very good beyond that. Made a key late block from close range off his hip to prevent any sort of comeback. Showed really good recovery pace to help deny the speedy Schade on the counter as well as looking very strong against the physically imposing Igor Thiago. 7/10
Ryan Sessegnon
Far more positive and defensively sound than his opposition number Kayode, who if not for his long throws, would’ve gone through the game like a ghost with how little he was able to contribute against Sess down our left side. His movement and cross to provide the ball that bounced off Ethan Pinnock for the third showed immense quality, after previously forcing a first half save from Kelleher with a strong, low effort from the left side of the box. 7.5/10
Sander Berge
Meh, I just don’t know how to jazz up the Sander Berge section of these articles. Good ball retention, not much else etc… There was one occasion where he made a ran to the right side of the goal and put a ball across the box but those moments are so rare on a weekly basis. Thought he marked Damsgaard out of the game after we scored our third which was of some importance, to be fair. 6/10
Sasa Lukic
An Andersen goal from a Lukic corner is coming, and could’ve produced four goals this season already, as I previously noticed. It’s an emerging pattern and something clearly working from the training ground, so watch this space on that. With the fanbases’ collective worries over the lack of creativity from the eight roles, it’s encouraging to see Lukic cover lots of ground including in the final third where one shot went narrowly wide in the first half, while another caused a mix up that led to our equaliser. Definitely his best performance so far this season. 8/10
Josh King
The events at Stamford Bridge and here at the Cottage will only be a positive learning curve, I’m sure of it. His error was poor, but every player goes through those moments, and for a teenager to bounce back from a moment that had evidently frustrated him with such positivity on the ball showed his character, especially when you add in how unfairly he was booked for diving following a challenge from Henderson towards the end of the first half. 6.5/10
Harry Wilson
Who put the ball in the Brentford net…for the seventh time in a Fulham shirt…Harry f*cking Wilson! Looked creative early on especially cutting in and crossing on his left foot. His finish to put us ahead was silky smooth, taking it on the run and placing it across the diving Kelleher. No real contributions of note in the second half but the damage had already been done. 7/10
Alex Iwobi
Another who had their best game this season, and surprisingly so with his recent form and the worries over a potential ankle injury coming into the game. He looked sharp and quick from the off, which ended up showing in his attacking contributions. His speed of reaction to net the equaliser was superb, but his pass to split the Brentford defence 90 seconds later as Fulham took the lead was magical. Those are the standards he can reach when he takes a leaders’ role in that attacking group. 8/10
Rodrigo Muniz
Gutted that his vicious strike was disallowed for a fourth Fulham goal. As harsh as it felt, if Thiago had done the same and bloodied the nose of Andersen at the other end, I know we would’ve wanted it chalked off. Caused chaos for the Brentford centre backs early on which eventually merited panic from a Lukic shot which fell to Iwobi to equalise. Only other chance of note was when Sessegnon’s first half effort rebounded to him, but a dinked effort from a tight angle went over the bar. 6.5/10
Substitutes
Kevin
Another half an hour in the legs for our new Brazilian superstar after he replaced the yellow-carded Josh King. Some really nice flicks and tricks as you’d expect from Kevin, one of which forced a Brentford yellow card just seconds after coming on. Quite a needless yellow card, it’s worth saying. 6/10
Raul Jimenez and Emile Smith Rowe got 10-minute cameos in place of Rodrigo and Iwobi, seeing very little of the ball if not for a lack of intent. Tom Cairney also got minutes late on in place of Lukic, but perhaps the best cameo was that of Jorge Cuenca. In replacing Wilson to sure things up late on, he managed a tackle, an important interception in the box and a further block in less than ten minutes, talk about getting in and amongst it in a derby. All four of those named substitutes came on too late to be fairly rated.
Marco Silva
Thought we were set up far more positively against Leeds, and though we struggled to create chances before Brentford took the lead, the three in behind Muniz looked sharp and resourceful. The response after King’s mistake from Silva was superb. His galvanisation of the side to take the game to Brentford from a goal down was phenomenal, and I loved the man management regarding King in the way Silva pushed Iwobi to be the man to pick the ball up from deep to take any additional pressure off of the teenager.
The confidence he put in King to not take off a frustrated teen on a yellow card at half time was also a great decision, with King not losing any confidence and showing some superb touches in Brentford’s half. Silva seems to be pushing Lukic in an attacking sense too. As I’ve mentioned, that combination with Andersen from corners will produce a goal or two soon, but Lukic is contributing more in the final third on a game-by-game basis and if goals and assists come from it then that will be a big problem addressed in the balance of our starting XI. Tactically got everything right from 3-1 onwards, we saw the game out calmly and professionally. 8/10