The Tanner Report: Fulham 2 Brighton 1

This was a highly enjoyable victory, all the more so as undeserved. For long periods Fulham were not in the game but ended up winning it.

When I asked a group of Fulham supporters whom they chose as “Man of the Match” one replied “Carlos Baleba” (who plays for Brighton).

Harry Wilson – who else? – did it again with his left foot strike 2 minutes into extra time.

One of the curiosities of a hard fought game was that each of the 3 goals were finished with shots up in the left hand corner of goal in front of the Hammersmith End.

Tactically Fulham did not play through the middle as the passing to and from Kevin was careless, but instead launched long balls from the back like an American quarterback.

One such from Joachim Andersen found Samuel Chukwueze in space: he dribbled into the box and his low shot eluded Verbruggen. Jimmy Greaves used to say “Pass the ball into the net’”, which Chukwueze did.

Brighton immediately ‘equalised,’ but the goal was chalked off as VAR revealed a marginal offside to the scorer Danny Welbeck.

Brighton continued to have the better chances but it was Harry Wilson’s free kick that won us the match.

I reflected on attendance versus TV. The jubilation in the stadium was something to behold but the viewer would have had a  better appreciation of the Brighton offside VAR decision. On the other hand, the viewer did not have to endure a two-hour car journey to get home or freeze in the second half …