Fulham (2) 3 v 2 (1) Brentford
1 De Cordova-Reid 44 Norgaard, assist Jensen
20 Palhinha, assist Pereira 71 Toney, assist Wissa
90 Mitrovic, assist Mbabu
Yellows: Palhinha, Tete, Mbabu Dasilva, Mee Referee: P Bankes
Played Saturday 20 August 2022 at Craven Cottage, attendance 21,798.
Fulham recorded their first Premier London Derbies (PLDs) win since 2014 when they beat Brentford 3-2 in their first ever Premier League (PL) meeting. The Bees’ Christian Norgaard’s goal at the end of the first half gave the visitors hope after a very early Cottagers’ goal by Bobby De Cordova-Reid, and one by Joao Palhinha – also known as Lobo Alves Palhinha Goncalves. A reinvigorated Brentford equalized through Ivan Toney, but it was his opposite number 9, Aleksandar Mitrovic, whose late headed goal gave Fulham the win.
The only “afters” following this entertaining, well-fought contest was some playful verbal sparing between Mitrovic and Toney who once both played for Newcastle United, rather than what we saw at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea, despite their “we are always the victims” stance have further disciplinary problems with hero Koulibaly’s “two yellows make a red” card in their defeat away to once bitter rivals Leeds United. Tottenham Hotspur are in a happier place having scored their 1000th PL home goal through Harry Kane, whose 250th Spurs‘ goal it was, and 185th PL goal, one past Sergio Aguero’s 184 for a single PL Club.
Our next PLDs match is Arsenal v Fulham on Saturday 27 August and it looks like a home banker on the Gunners’ current form (3 wins from 3) but it was a 1-1 draw in 2020-21. On Tuesday 30 August its Crystal Palace v Brentford, another first-time fixture in the PL and a tough one again for the Bees. Wednesday 31 August 2022 sees West Ham United v Tottenham Hotspur which is the Hammers’ 501st PL home match. They lost their 500th v Brighton and Hove Albion on Saturday 20 August to go bottom of the table with no points out of 3 matches. Nothing less than a win will do for their fans, but it’s 3 wins each over the last 6 seasons in this one, and the Lilywhites look to have more resolve about themselves.
Until next time, it’s all to play for so enjoy your football, Andrew at PLDs.