Bryan Mbeumo double seals Brentford’s win at Fulham after Tim Ream’s red card
A meeting of west London’s two best teams of last season, 10th hosting ninth. Having endured a far stormier summer and lost so slackly at home to Brentford, Yoane Wissa’s opener and two goals from Bryan Mbeumo sealing their fate, Fulham look in far greater danger of being unable to maintain such standards.
Where will their goals from? The future of Aleksandar Mitrovic, missing with an ankle injury, remains uncertain beyond a reported desire to cash in on the Saudi Arabian gold rush. That Raúl Jiménez’s holdup play might actually be superior to the Serbia striker’s rather diminishes against the statistic that the Mexican has now gone 25 Premier League games without a goal.
Full time scores – Premier League
— Inside Pitakwa (@PitakwaJobzilla) August 19, 2023
Liverpool 3-1 Bournemouth
Fulham 0-3 Brentford
Wolves 1-4 Brightonhttps://t.co/pJ67NfvlUm pic.twitter.com/2PPPzIZjnV
Should Silva retain Mitrovic; Willian, last season’s second-top scorer with just five, another Saudi target; and fellow second-half substitute João Palhinha, back after a shoulder injury and a leading candidate to slake the Premier League elite’s thirst for adept, tactically aware central midfielders; then all may still be well. The transfer window’s final days look to hold the key to whether Fulham’s season is of struggle, or they can properly build on last season’s success.
Brentford, continuing a proud record at Craven Cottage, having only lost twice there since 1981, also remain familiar from last season but looked capable of pushing further onwards and upwards. Their manager, Thomas Frank, continues to impress. If a couple of wobbles from new goalkeeper Mark Flekken, David Raya having joined Arsenal this week, sounded a note of caution, Fulham could not pressure him nearly enough.
Flekken’s first flutter of uncertainty appeared to inspire Fulham to press and chase just as hard as their opponents. It made for a fiercely fought first half, all second balls and closed-off half-spaces. Creative juices were in short supply, though Mathias Jensen, spotting Fulham keeper Bernd Leno way out on safari, almost scored from a free-kick just inside his opponent’s half, the ball swirling wide.
