Fulham stung Brentford with two rapid first-half goals to fight back and win 3-1 against their West London rivals at Craven Cottage.
Harry Wilson was the hero last season in this fixture with two goals in a stunning stoppage-time turnaround and it was his finish which capped a similarly eye-catching comeback, bending into the corner to give Marco Silva’s side the lead only moments after Alex Iwobi’s strike had levelled the match.
A mistake by teenager Josh King had earlier gifted Brentford the lead, an opportunistic finish from Mikkel Damsgaard midway through the half after the 18-year-old had given the ball away.
It was a rare bright spot for Brentford who were for the most part second best. Fulham added a third goal to reflect their superiority when Ethan Pinnock headed into his own net early in the second half, after which Keith Andrews’ side never looked like recovering.
Fulham might have led after 14 minutes but for a good reaction save from Caoimhín Kelleher, throwing up a fist to punch away Michael Kayode’s wayward header towards his own goal. Sasa Lukic then drew a roar from home fans with a low drive which zipped just wide, as Fulham began the brighter.
A horrendous error gifted Brentford the lead after 20 minutes. King received the ball from goalkeeper Bernd Leno and passed straight to Damsgaard, who took two steps forward and rolled calmly into the bottom corner.
It was an unfortunate mistake from the 18-year-old, who drew a show of solidarity from his more senior team-mates to rally around him in support.
Kelleher spilled a shot from Ryan Sessegnon to give Rodrigo Muniz a chance to stick away the rebound, but Brentford’s goalkeeper recovered well to smother the shot.
The Cottagers had scored only three goals all season, but then hit Brentford with two in less than a 100 seconds.
They deservedly levelled after 38 minutes when the visitors bungled the chance to clear a ball into their box.
Keane Lewis-Potter seemed caught off-balance and failed to make proper contact as the ball fell to him, his half-clearance bouncing off Kayode before landing at the feet of Iwobi to tap home.
And a remarkable turnaround was complete less than two minutes later when the goalscorer received the ball centrally from Muniz and played an excellent through-ball which was bent first time into the corner by Wilson.
The second half began with another howler and this time Brentford were culpable. Sessegnon’s cross looked an easy clean-up job for Pinnock, who had no Fulham player near him.
Nathan Collins missed a header which appeared to unnerve his team-mate and rather than clear the danger, Pinnock ducked down and clumsily sent the ball past his own goalkeeper.
Fulham thought they had scored a pearler of a fourth goal when Muniz lashed the ball in at the near post, only for referee Michael Oliver to consult the pitchside monitor to judge the striker had leaned an elbow into Nathan Collins in the build-up.
