LONDON: Fulham substitute Harry Wilson netted a late double to snatch a 2-1 win over Brentford at Craven Cottage in the West London derby on Monday, with his second coming in the seventh minute of stoppage time in their Premier League clash.

Wilson came on in the 82nd minute and turned the game on its head with an acrobatic flick into the far top corner to bring the scores level two minutes into added time and then found the winner with a stooping eff­ort that flew in off his shoulder.

The victory took Fulham up to ninth on 15 points, with Brentford 12th on 13, and was well deserved after they dominated against opponents who seemed content to defend in numbers.

After being pushed back from the kick-off, Brentford took the lead with their first shot on target as Vitaly Janelt picked up the ball well outside the box and flashed a shot across goalkeeper Bernd Leno and into the net in the 24th minute.

That goal came against the run of play and the Bees immediately returned to their defensive shape while Fulhams onslaught continued as they peppered the box with crosses but continued to struggle in terms of getting efforts on target.

Fulham’s Kenny Tete, Alex Iwobi and Calvin Bassey all tried their luck from distance midway through the second half but their efforts were straight at Mark Flekken, resulting in easy saves for the Brentford keeper.

With the home fans’ frustration rising, the introduction of Wilson for Reiss Nelson in the 82nd minute by coach Marco Silva did not appear to bear any of the hallmarks of a tactical master-stroke but it quickly proved to be an inspired decision.

With Fulham having launched 42 crosses into the area without success, Adama Traore fired in yet another more in hope than expectation and Wilson met it with a clever back heel flick over Flekken and into the net to equalise in the 92nd minute.

The 27-year-old was not done, though, and five minutes later popped up to score as he diverted the ball into the net off his shoulder to grab an unlikely winner and delight the home fans.

Wales midfielder Wilson has been limited to six substitute appearances this term so his late heroics were a welcome boost.

“It was an amazing feeling to come on and get the two goals to win the game. We deserved it, we kept them pinned in throughout,” he told Sky Sports. “The first one I just helped it on to the back post and the second one was more lucky — I was trying to head it into the other corner but it hit my shoulder and went in.

“The atmosphere was great all night and that was up there with the best Ive heard it,” he added.

Published in Dawn, November 6th, 2024