Fulham produced another Craven Cottage escape act yesterday, coming from behind to beat Brighton 2–1 with a stoppage-time free-kick from Harry Wilson that sent the home crowd into raptures and left the visitors staring at another match that slipped through their fingers.
Brighton had the better of long stretches, created the clearer opportunities and led through a superb Yasin Ayari strike, but Fulham’s late substitutions changed the feel of the contest, Samuel Chukwueze levelled with a cool finish, and Wilson’s 92nd-minute set-piece completed a turnaround that felt unlikely for most of the afternoon.
The first half was played at Brighton’s tempo. They pressed high, hunted in packs and squeezed Fulham’s build-up, forcing rushed clearances and making it difficult for Marco Silva’s side to link their midfield to Raúl Jiménez. Fulham’s best early moment came when Wilson slipped Jiménez in from a tight angle, but Bart Verbruggen narrowed the space and made the save at his near post.
Brighton, though, looked the sharper team whenever the game opened up, and they broke the deadlock on 28 minutes with a goal that deserved the lead: Ayari cut inside from the left and unleashed a thumping shot into the roof of the net from a narrow angle. Bernd Leno got a touch, but the pace and placement beat him on his near side.
Brighton could have made it two soon after and arguably should have. Kaoru Mitoma wriggled into a shooting position and was denied by Leno, then Ferdi Kadioglu arrived to head the rebound goalwards only for Timothy Castagne to scramble it off the line.
That sequence summed up the first period: Brighton were winning the midfield duel, getting into the better spaces and forcing Fulham to defend deep far more often than they wanted. Fulham did have moments of threat—usually when Wilson found room between the lines—but they struggled to turn those moments into sustained pressure.
The second half initially followed the same direction, with Brighton still looking the likelier side to score again. They continued to find Mitoma in space, Danny Welbeck linked play intelligently up front, and Carlos Baleba’s power and timing in midfield helped Brighton regain possession quickly whenever Fulham tried to break out.
Fulham needed a spark, and Silva went looking for it with changes that brought extra pace and directness. The turning point came when Fulham began playing earlier into the channels rather than trying to pass through Brighton’s press.
Fulham’s equaliser arrived in the 72nd minute and came straight from that more direct approach. Joachim Andersen stepped out and hit a precise long ball into space, Chukwueze timed his run perfectly, and the winger kept his composure to slide a finish past Verbruggen for 1–1. The Cottage lifted instantly, and the game suddenly felt open in a way it hadn’t for much of the afternoon.
The drama didn’t stop there. Brighton thought they had responded almost immediately when Welbeck finished neatly after a quick break, only for the goal to be ruled out after a VAR check for offside. That decision swung momentum back towards Fulham, and the final stages became a battle of nerve. Welbeck still had a powerful header saved as Brighton searched again, while Fulham threatened in moments, especially through Wilson, whose confidence continues to grow with every match.
The decisive moment came in the second minute of stoppage time. Fulham won a free-kick around 25 yards out, and Wilson stepped up with the kind of intent that has defined his form lately. His strike whipped and dipped towards the top corner, and although Verbruggen got a hand to it, he couldn’t keep it out, the ball flying into the net to spark wild celebrations. It was Wilson’s first direct free-kick goal for Fulham, and it felt like another signature moment in a season where he keeps producing them.
After the match, Silva praised his team’s persistence and pointed to Wilson’s influence again, describing him as a player in the best spell of his career and stressing how much Fulham are trying to keep him with his contract situation looming. He also acknowledged Brighton were a tough opponent who played well for long periods, but felt Fulham deserved credit for changing the game and taking their big moments.
Brighton head coach Fabian Hürzeler called the outcome brutal, saying his side’s overall performance merited more, and he refused to single out Verbruggen despite the late goalkeeper error, insisting young players will make mistakes and the responsibility is shared across the group. He was also unhappy with the offside decision that ruled out Welbeck’s goal, arguing that the way those calls are measured can feel inconsistent.
In the end, Fulham’s late surge and clinical finishing wrote the headline, lifting them up to seventh and sending their supporters home buzzing. Brighton, meanwhile, left with the familiar frustration of chances not taken and a match that slipped away right at the end.
