Brighton had never beaten Fulham in the Premier League before, yet another record broken by this wonderful, upwardly-mobile club in recent years, Joao Pedro’s 98th-minute penalty sealing this latest piece of history.
It wasn’t the prettiest of wins at times, and Fulham will return to west London understandably aggrieved not to have picked up at least a point, but for this young and vibrant Brighton side, it didn’t matter in the slightest.
The first half in particular was without rhythm or fluency. Raul Jimenez’s 10th league goal of the season broke the deadlock, but Jan Paul van Hecke headed the Seagulls back level in a frantic first half finale.
Brighton pushed and pushed throughout a scrappy second half, seemingly destined to land the killer blow in this European race, until they got the reward for their efforts. With seconds on the clock, Sam Barrott blew his whistle for a penalty, leaving Pedro, the coolest and calmest man in Sussex, to dash Fulham’s hopes in style. Cue pandemonium. Cue devastation.
With just a point between them in the table, and everything to play for in the race for European football, it felt like these two were too well-matched at times.
For 35 minutes, Brighton and Fulham traded limp half-blows. Despite bright performances from Yankuba Minteh, Emile Smith Rowe and Yasin Ayari, there was little to set the pulse racing before, out of almost nothing, Alex Iwobi and Jimenez combined for a goal beautiful in both its simplicity and its execution.
Brighton secured a last-gasp victory over Fulham thanks to Joao Pedro’s 98th-minute penalty
The Seagulls now lie sixth place in the Premier League table – just a point off Man City in fourth
Picking up the ball inside his own half, Iwobi sprinted down the right before crossing to the back stick for Jimenez to chest down and fire between Bart Verbruggen and the near post on the half-volley, falling over in the process.
The lead, though, lasted only six minutes, and it was another oh-so-simple goal, this time Van Hecke ghosting into the box unmarked to head home Yasin Ayari’s free-kick in off the post and level the tie.
Brighton didn’t have much time to capitalise on the momentum shift at the end of the first half, but they made up for that at the start of the second.
Within four minutes, they came close to taking the lead, Pedro and Rutter combining for a goal of the season contender, had the Brazilian’s finish swerved into the top right corner and not agonisingly wide of it.
Brighton were knocking louder and louder on the door; this time Kaoru Mitoma found the back of the night, but was denied by the offside flag. Fulham needed to wake up fast, before an energised Brighton left them behind.
Fulham answered the call even if it took them 15 minutes to muster a sustained spell of possession.
Timothy Castagne pushed higher up the pitch beyond Iwobi, and caused havoc on the overlap, but Brighton’s effervescent frontmen kept them honest.
Both sides wrestled for control of a game that was becoming scrappier by the minute. With an absence of clear cut chances, Iwobi may feel he could have done more with a free shot on the edge of the box on 79 minutes. As it was, he fired straight at Van Hecke.
Fulham opened the scoring after a close-range conversion by Raul Jimenez in the 35th minute
And Joao Pedro was flawless from the spot to secure three points and his seventh goal this season
Brighton came close to near-immediate punishment four minutes later, but with the goal at his mercy Danny Welbeck somehow headed wide of the mark completely unopposed from six yards.
Again, Fulham were spared by the offside flag, this time Simone Adingra, seconds off the bench, on 87 minutes, and you just felt that Brighton were destined to grab the winner.
The seconds ticked on, into the 89th minute, and still the hosts pressed. A Van Hecke drive from range was ragged, and didn’t come close to troubling Leno’s goal, but ultimately the deciding touch fell to the one man Brighton fans would have wanted.
A clumsy challenge from Harrison Reed brought Pedro down, and after a long wait, the Brazilian set himself, swaggered up to the spot, and sealed all three points, deservedly, for the Seagulls, who soar closer to their European dream as a result.
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