Gameweek 10 came to a dramatic conclusion on Monday night, as Harry Wilson (£5.2m) struck twice in stoppage time to deny Mark Flekken (£4.5m) a double-digit haul.
FLEKKEN DENIED
It was a bitterly disappointing night for Mark Flekken owners on Monday, with the Dutchman moments away from a 12-point haul.
Instead, he received just four.
Prior to conceding twice in injury time, Flekken had racked up 10 – mostly routine – saves. He was subsequently on for a clean sheet and maximum bonus.
However, denied late on, it means Flekken is the only goalkeeper to start in all 10 Gameweeks yet to keep a clean sheet.
For much of this match, it was a resilient, back-to-the-walls performance from Brentford.
Having scored with their first shot, courtesy of a Vitaly Janelt (£4.9m) rocket, they sat deep, absorbing everything Fulham could throw at them.
Nathan Collins (£4.5m) was particularly good, with five aerial duels won, four interceptions and six clearances.
That said, if you sit in and allow your opponent’s 26 shots, you are probably asking for trouble, even if just one of those efforts was ‘clear cut’.
“When we look at the game back and we are more cool-headed we will probably be very happy with the defensive standard. I thought there were unbelievable blocks and recovery runs and all that we did well. On the ball, we didn’t do enough.” – Thomas Frank
Brentford defended their box well, but once they did clear it they almost looked a player short.
In fact, we hardly saw anything going forward from the Bees, with Bryan Mbeumo (£7.8m) and Yoane Wissa (£6.0m) unable to get involved.
Neither player registered a shot or key pass at Craven Cottage.
“One of the things that pleased me the most was the way we played on the front foot. Not to give one chance to Mbeumo or Wissa was top level from us. Tonight we kept them really quiet. Sander Berge had a really good night.” – Marco Silva
FULHAM’S LEFT-SIDE LINK-UP
Harry Wilson came on in the 82nd minute and scored twice, giving Fulham a deserved win.
Before that, the Cottagers huffed and puffed but didn’t really hurt Brentford.
One positive, however, was the combination of Antonee Robinson (£4.7m), Reiss Nelson (£5.0m) and Emile Smith Rowe (£5.7m) in the left channel.
Some of Fulham’s best moments came down that side, with all three players in the thick of the action.
No surprise, then, that 47.4% of Fulham’s chances were created from the left zone on Monday, compared to just 21.1% on the right:
As for Robinson, he supplied his third assist of the season, the joint-most among defenders.
It’s also worth noting after the latest round of matches, Fulham have conceded the joint-fewest big chances in the top-flight.
Elsewhere, Raul Jimenez (£5.8m) was kept quiet by Brentford’s centre-halves. He managed just two shots and was hooked on 72 minutes.
Fulham have Crystal Palace and Wolverhampton Wanderers next, either side of the international break.
“We deserved the three points, no doubts about it. It summed up our season so far, we were dominant, we were the best team and created more. They didn’t have anything until that moment [Janelt goal] from 25 yards and they scored, we didn’t lose the confidence and we tried pushing them back and had many ways to score.
“The result was unfair for some time, I told the players to keep pushing and I have to give praise to Brentford, they defended hard in their box. The reality is we didn’t give up. We put Harry Wilson in a different position and we let him be closer to Rodrigo [Muniz] and he has good timing into the box.” – Marco Silva
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