Mitrovic Nets Winner As Fulham Sink Brentford In Derby Thriller

Fulham sealed their first victory of the Premier League campaign by beating Brentford 3-2 on Saturday thanks to a late Aleksandar Mitrovic winner, after Bobby De Cordova-Reid scored the fastest goal of the season and Joao Palhinha produced a bullet header.

Mitrovic looked set to rue several missed chances, but rose to guide in a header from Kevin Mbabu’s cross in the 90th minute after Brentford’s Ivan Toney equalised to make it 2-2 in the 71st minute of a breathless encounter at Craven Cottage.

Earlier, the first top-flight clash between the West London derby rivals got off to a fast start as De Cordova-Reid bundled the ball home on 44 seconds following a scramble in the penalty area, with the visitors paying for losing possession cheaply.

Summer signing Palhinha then rose authoritatively to nod in Fulham’s second after a delightful cross from fellow midfielder Andreas Pereira on 20 minutes as the hosts looked primed to put Thomas Frank’s side to the sword.

But Brentford, who were second-best for much of the opening period, pulled a goal back before the break through an unmarked Norgaard as the Denmark midfielder’s thumping volley flew past goalkeeper Bernd Leno to give them a lifeline.

Both teams threatened after the restart as Brentford’s Toney was twice denied by the Video Assistant Referee while his Fulham counterpart Mitrovic also spurned a number of opportunities before making his final one count.

Reuters