Brentford 2 Fulham 3: Mbeumo and Wissa on the scoresheet as Bees fall to defeat in west London derby | OneFootball

Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa were on the scoresheet as Brentford lost 3-2 to Fulham in an end-to-end west London derby.

Raúl Jiménez’s header gave the visitors an early advantage but the Bees led at the interval thanks to goals from Mbeumo and Wissa. The margin could have been greater had Bernd Leno not saved Mbeumo’s 27th-minute penalty during a pulsating first half at Gtech Community Stadium. Fulham substitutes Tom Cairney and Harry Wilson scored in quick succession after the break to consign the Bees to a defeat.

Thomas Frank named an unchanged starting XI for the Bees’ final home game of the season.

Defender Kristoffer Ajer returned to the bench having recovered from a minor injury.

Brentford created the first big chance on 11 minutes. Mikkel Damsgaard received a short pass from Mbeumo and quickly released Wissa, whose shot from a tight angle was parried by Bernd Leno.

Joachim Andersen’s block took the sting out of Damsgaard’s effort on the rebound.

At the other end, Emile Smith Rowe tested Mark Flekken with a low drive from 20 yards.

The visitors took the lead on 16 minutes. Adama Traoré swung in a cross from the right, which was met by the head of Jiménez, and the ball trickled beyond Flekken and over the line.

Mbeumo’s free-kick narrowly evaded Nathan Collins at the back post as the Bees immediately went in search of leveller.

Fulham’s lead was indeed short lived – and it was a familiar duo who combined for Brentford’s opener.

Wissa, in a pocket of space 25 yards out, threaded a pass through for Mbeumo, and the forward fired across the face of goal and into the far corner despite Calvin Bassey’s attempt to make a last-ditch block.

Frank’s side then passed up a huge opportunity to score a second. A VAR check confirmed that Andersen had brought down Kevin Schade in the box, but for the first time in 11 attempts, Mbeumo’s penalty was saved – Leno diving to his right to thwart the Cameroonian.

Brentford were not to be denied a second goal. Sepp van den Berg flicked Michael Kayode’s long throw to the back post and Christian Nørgaard’s close-range header escaped Leno’s grasp.

The ball looked destined to find the net, but Wissa was taking no chances, prodding home on the line to join Mbeumo on 19 Premier League goals this season.

As the game approached the hour mark, a cross from the left dropped kindly for Kenny Tete and Schade made a crucial block to prevent the defender’s shot from reaching its intended target.

Two goals in quick succession turned the game on its head.

Just two minutes after his introduction, substitute Cairney rose highest to glance Tete’s deflected delivery from the right of the box into the corner of the net.

Almost immediately after the restart, Wilson received a short pass from Traoré and whipped the ball into the same corner from 25 yards.

On 74 minutes, Mbeumo’s curling cross flew over the heads of Wissa and Tete inside the six-yard box and dropped to Schade. The full-back quickly turned his attention to Schade and darted across to make a crucial block.

Fulham had Leno to thank late on. With the Bees banging on the door, Mathias Jensen floated a deep cross towards the back post. Nørgaard did everything right, powerfully heading downwards towards the bottom corner, but Leno leapt to his left and pushed the ball to safety.

A quick transition saw Cairney race on to Jiménez’s lofted ball and try to catch Flekken out with a lob, but the back-pedalling keeper made a simple stop.

Fulham stood firm during seven minutes of stoppage-time to consign Brentford to a defeat at the Gtech.

Brentford: Flekken; Kayode (Ajer 62), Collins, van den Berg, Lewis-Potter (Thiago 75); Nørgaard, Yarmoliuk (Jensen 75), Damsgaard; Schade (Henry 75), Mbeumo, Wissa

Subs not used: Valdimarsson, Pinnock, Mee, Konak, Nunes

Fulham: Leno; Tete, Andersen, Bassey, Robinson (Cuenca 89); Berge (Cairney HT), Lukić; Traoré (Sessegnon 80), Smith Rowe (King 66), Iwobi (Wilson 66); Jiménez

Subs not used: Benda, Andreas, Willian, Vinícius

Attendance: 17,136

Frank: There are more positives than negatives

Thomas Frank was pleased with his side’s performance against Fulham despite Brentford falling to a 3-2 defeat.

“Obviously, I’m disappointed,” Frank began.

“It’s always disappointing to lose against our local rivals, and I’m even more disappointed because we played to get more out of the game.

“The first half was one of best halves of the season, one of our best here at the Gtech, and there have been many. We were completely on top, scored two goals, missed a penalty, and had other good chances and opportunities. We could have been up by two goals at half-time.”

The Bees boss added: “It shows the fine margins in football: two deflected crosses land perfectly on their players’ heads, and fair play they head it in from there, and then a very good finish from Wilson that decides the game. There are more positives than negatives.”

Wissa on Fulham defeat

Yoane Wissa reflected on Brentford's 3-2 loss and discussed reaching 19 Premier League goals for the season.

"It's painful and disappointing, especially when it's the last day at home," said Wissa.

"We didn't create that much in the second half, but I'm happy with what we have done this year at home.

"We can't take anything for granted. Last year, there was a lot of struggles and injuries and this year, we've shown that we can aim really high."

On his goalscoring form, Wissa added: "I've enjoyed every single game, we create lots of chances and score lots of goals.

"One more game to go and to see if I can get to 20, which would be such an amazing season.

"We've scored the most goals ever in the Premier League, so I'm really pleased."