Half-time: Fulham 0 Brentford 1

By

Stuart Dallas’s terrific strike from distance earned Brentford a half-time lead in the west London derby.

Minutes after testing Fulham keeper Marcus Bettinelli from similar range, the Bees midfielder found his target at the second attempt as his arrowed shot nestled into the far corner.

Fulham had been the better side up to that point, with Alex Kacaniklic forcing an early save from David Button, who also claimed a low effort from Cauley Woodrow.

The Whites were on the front foot for the first 15 minutes but Brentford gradually gained a hold on midfield, with Alex Pritchard curling over from just outside the box before Dallas had his first pop at goal saved.

While Fulham were culpable for standing off Dallas, the quality of his goal could only be admired – as could Fulham’s response to going behind.

Kacaniklic curled a left-footed shot just over the bar, Woodrow produced an unconventional save from Button’s legs and Seko Fofana drilled wastefully wide when well placed.

While the Bees are unchanged from their draw with illwall last time out, Fulham showed five alterations, including debuts for loan signings James Husband and Danny Guthrie, at the expense of Jazz Richard and Sean Kavanagh.

Nikolay Bodurov came in for the suspended Shaun Hutchinson, Fofana started ahead of Tim Hoogland, Ross McCormack replaced Matt Smith and Scott Parker missed out through illness.

Fulham: Bettinelli; Grimmer, Bodurov, Turner, Husband; Fofana, Tunnicliffe, Guthrie, Kacaniklic; R. McCormack, Woodrow.
Subs: Kiraly, Hoogland, Stafylidis, Burn, Kavanagh, Smith, Rodallega.

Brentford: Button; Odubajo, Tarkowski, Dean, Bidwell; Diagouraga, Douglas; Jota, Pritchard, Dallas; Gray.
Subs: Bonham, Craig, A. McCormack, Toral, Judge, Smith, Long.

Follow West London Sport on Twitter
Find us on Facebook