Fulham 1-2 Brighton & Hove Albion
- Published
Tomer Hemed's stoppage-time penalty put Brighton top of the early Championship table with two wins from two games after a closely-fought game at Fulham.
After Kazenga LuaLua was brought down, the Israeli netted the winner.
Sam Baldock tapped the visitors in front from Bruno's cross on the half hour, before Tom Cairney thumped the hosts back on level terms.
Fulham narrowly edged the second half and looked on course for a point until Shaun Hutchinson's foul on LuaLua.
Seagulls fans have yet to see returning striker Bobby Zamora make his second debut for Chris Hughton's side, but they made light of his absence as they started brightly.
Hemed hit the bar and Beram Kayal drew a good save from Marcus Bettinelli before the hosts gained the upper hand.
First blood, however, went to the visitors, when debutant Uwe Hunemeier outmuscled Matt Smith and released the ball to Bruno, whose cross was poked into the bottom corner first time by Baldock.
Cairney's rasping shot from a counter-attack move restored parity before the break,.
Fulham had the better of the second half without seriously threatening a winner, and a draw looked on the cards until Hemed's dramatic late intervention.
Fulham manager Kit Symons: "In the first half we were poor, they were the better team, we rode our luck and were lucky to go in at 1-1 but saying that we could have gone it at 2-1 because Matty (Smith) hit the post.
"We were much better in the second and were the only team who were going to win it. They made changes to shore it up and take a point but we got caught with a classic sucker-punch.
"I have seen the penalty back a few times and it's very difficult to call. Possibly the initial contact was just outside but he is travelling at pace and it's quite hard to tell even stopping and rewinding it back from a couple of different angles, it's hard to tell.
"I have no arguments with the award of the penalty but I have a few arguments with the defending that gave it away."
Brighton boss Chris Hughton: "I thought we deserved the win over the 90 minutes. We started the game very well.
"But with the likes of (Jamie) O'Hara, Cairney and (Ross) McCormack, they have some players who can produce something. I was disappointed to go in at 1-1, I felt we were the better team first half.
"We came out again and it was difficult to sustain it for 90 minutes and they had a good period of pressure. We had to defend very well.
"I didn't see the winner coming to be honest. I have to applaud our team for having the bravery at that stage to go for that win. I'd made the changes before that to steady it up."
- Published20 June 2016
- Published7 June 2019