Fulham manager Marco Silva praised teenager Josh King after he recovered from gifting Brentford the lead to turn in an impressive display during their 3-1 win at Craven Cottage.
The 18-year-old gave the ball away in the first half to hand Mikkel Damsgaard the opening goal in the west London derby but after his team-mates rallied around in support, he turned in a confident performance as his team fought back.
Two goals in two minutes turned the match on its head, Alex Iwobi and Harry Wilson striking within a 100 seconds of each other before Ethan Pinnock’s own goal gave Fulham the victory their dominance warranted.
Silva pointed to King’s contribution as key part of his side’s win.
“It doesn’t surprise me,” he said. “This mistake will make his grow quicker and make him realise it’s not always sunshine. Sometimes it will be dark. He impressed me the way he reacted.”
Brentford were second best throughout and having thrown away the lead to two rapid Fulham goals in the first half, they never looked like recovering against Silva’s team.
They had been gifted the lead in the 20th minute by an error from King, the 18-year-old carelessly passing straight to the feet of Damsgaard who calmly advanced and rolled the ball into the corner past Bernd Leno.
It was the highlight of a poor display from Keith Andrews’ outfit and the game slipped away from them in the space of two minutes late in the half.
Iwobi tapped in from close range after the ball had bounced to him off Brentford defender Michael Kayode. Wilson then followed up on two stoppage-time goals in this fixture last season to make it 2-1 two minutes later, curling into the corner after running on to Iwobi’s through-ball.
Pinnock’s own goal five minutes into the second half – a curious misjudgement from the defender who ducked and allowed Ryan Sessegnon’s cross to bounce in off his head – capped a thoroughly deserved Fulham win.
“We kept ourselves cool and showed character and resilience,” said Silva.
“We controlled all the first half, we were the best team on the pitch.
“We face 15 or 20 long throw-ins inside our box. We knew they were strong at that. The way we were brave and organised was crucial for us.
“It was a great match for ours fans. They deserved it. These types of derbies are special.”
Brentford boss Andrews reflected on the way his team conceded the initiative having taken the lead.
“I enjoyed the mentality of the group, how they approached the occasion of the derby,” he said.
“We frustrated them for large parts, but to concede two goals so quickly is really frustrating.
“It’s easy to say there was a bit of luck attached to their goal. I don’t look at it like that. You have to look at the build-up, how we got ourselves into that scenario. That was a period where they started to get the better of us.”
