Fulham pull off brilliant comeback to beat Brighton

Fulham 4 Brighton 2

Fulham breathed new life into their relegation fight with a thrilling second-half fightback – spearheaded by two-goal Aleksandar Mitrovic.

The Serb took his tally for the season to 10 with two towering headers, after Calum Chambers had bagged his first Fulham goal at the start of the second half to begin the incredible turnaround at 2-0.

And with the Whites rampant, substitute Luciano Vietto nodded in a fourth for good measure – also his first for the club – after a Tom Cairney curler had come back off the bar and found its way to the onrushing Italian.

Cairney, brought on after only 27 minutes following a disastrous start to the game, almost crowned a superb contribution with an identical curling shot onto the crossbar.

There was no hint of what was to come during an abject first half, which ended in a chorus of boos from home fans.

The game was less than three minutes old when the Whites fell behind to the first of two Glenn Murray goals.

Martin Montoya was allowed an unimpeded run down the right flank and his low cross was clipped in by Murray at the near post – the veteran striker getting ahead of Maxime Le Marchand.

And on 17 minutes, Murray stabbed home from six yards after Pascal Gross had overhead kicked a ball back into the danger zone.

Only a trailing leg from Sergio Rico denied Murray a hat-trick following a free-kick into the danger zone, and there was another chance for the ex-Crystal Palace man before the break when he got in front of Denis Odoi to almost poke in a third.

Andre Schurrle had a goal-bound far-post volley cleared off the line, and Davy Propper crashed a shot against the bar in a game of unrelenting action.

Boss Claudio Ranieri opted for the same starting line-up which ran Spurs so close in the last home match. But the absence of Cairney denied Fulham the creativity they needed and the midfielder was soon on for Tim Ream, as Fulham switched to a back four.

It was a switch which paid off handsomely.

Barely a minute into the second half, Chambers rifled home after Cyrus Christie’s launched cross towards Mitrovic was headed invitingly out to the midfielder, standing just outside the area.

The goal had a galvanising effect and it was no surprise when Mitrovic was on hand to nod in from close range after Brighton allowed a ball to bounce after it came in from Ryan Babel on the right and keeper Mat Ryan failed to get there first with his fist.

There looked only one winner after that. Jean Michael Seri found the bottom of a post with a fine angled strike that went for accuracy rather than pace.

And on 74 minutes, Mitrovic rose above Seagulls skipper Lewis Dunk to get on the end of a Joe Bryan cross from the left edge of the area. Vietto’s goal was the icing on the cake.