Brentford 2-3 Fulham: Wilson the hero again in pulsating West London derby

Wilson scored twice in a 2-1 victory in November's reverse fixture and was the hero again this time out with a second-half winner that came just two minutes after fellow substitute Tom Cairney's leveller.

Brentford had earlier recovered from Raul Jimenez's 16th-minute opener with Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa putting the Bees ahead, with the former also seeing a penalty saved by Bernd Leno.

Christian Norgaard nearly rescued a point late on but was thwarted by Leno.

Thomas Frank's side remain eighth for now but can be overtaken by both Bournemouth and Brighton, while Fulham's victory keeps Marco Silva's men in with a chance of potential European qualification.

Wissa had already been denied by the time Jimenez powered his header past Mark Flekken after great work by Adama Traore, who then sloppily gave away possession to spark the events that led to Wissa sliding in Mbeumo to fire past Leno to level the game.

Mbeumo was thwarted by Leno from the spot after Joachim Andersen clumsily tripped Kevin Schade but Wissa applied the finishing touch after Norgaard had headed through the hands of Fulham's goalkeeper to put Brentford ahead shortly before half-time.

Fulham were level by the 68th minute when Cairney's snapped header found the bottom-left corner and, just 120 seconds later, Wilson put the away side back in front with a tremendous 25-yard effort that nestled low into the bottom-left corner.

Norgaard's thumping header was excellently kept out low to his left by Leno in the closing stages as Fulham saw out the win in a pulsating Premier League encounter.

Our best ever @premierleague points tally. 🤍 pic.twitter.com/04ETdE4pog

— Fulham Football Club (@FulhamFC) May 18, 2025

It was derby-day delight for Wilson once more and through the Welshman (five) and Rodrigo Muniz (six), Fulham are the first side to see two players score five-plus goals as a substitute in the same Premier League campaign.

Wilson's heroics also saw Fulham reach 54 points for the season, which is the most they have ever recorded in a Premier League campaign. It also represented the first time they had opened the scoring, trailed in the match, and then come back to win in the Premier League (this marking the 57th time they have scored first and trailed).

Brentford will be wondering just quite how they lost this game but Mbeumo's first missed penalty for the club after 11 previous successes looks costly in the context of a game that swung this way and that. The Bees have now won six penalties in the Premier League this season, more than any other team.