The firework pale however Brentford had been nonetheless placing collectively probably the most glowing strikes, their line-breaking passes too fast for Fulham. There was an electrical directness to their play with and with out the ball. Mbeumo hit the submit with a curling free kick and Toney tried a novel little bit of ability by attempting to nudge a raking move in the direction of a team-mate together with his bum.
There have been occasional hints that Fulham’s method, richer with suave passing, may unlock doorways. They collectively realised you can sidestep rabid closing-down by taking a breath, promoting a dummy and calmly shifting into now-unoccupied area behind the keen runner.
The primary half ended with two free kicks hitting the woodwork, first Toney cracking the angle of submit and bar from 25 yards, then a a lot nearer try from Andreas Pereira. His hit the within of the submit previous a fully-stretched David Raya, the rebound falling completely for Manor Solomon to move in, his fifth purpose in as many video games. Pereira deserved an help, however so did Mbeumo for a dozy non-marking job.
Extra shock and awe from Brentford after the break, with a protracted throw inflicting panic within the Fulham field and Issa Diop clumsily catching Christian Norgaard’s outstretched foot then leaning on the Brentford midfielder. Toney casually blasted the penalty into the underside proper. One other flare adopted, with one other lengthy delay and Marco Silva understandably complaining furiously on the touchline.
Brentford switched modes from intense to managed and capitalised when Fulham misplaced focus by way of a woeful Cedric Soares clearance. After good work from Kevin Schade the third was stroked house by Mathias Jensen, nutmegging Bernd Leno to place some deserved gloss on the scoreline. David Raya spilled an Andreas Pereira shot in stoppage time, giving Carlos Vinicius a pointless late comfort.
What powers a rivalry like nothing else is familiarity. On this proof, there shall be many extra high-stakes video games between Fulham and Brentford within the coming years. Anticipate extra needle, new area of interest grievances, more and more impolite songs, all the great things. Please although, no extra flares.
