Fulham Vs. Brentford Review

On the season’s opening day, Brentford drew against Tottenham in an exciting 2-2 match that saw Yoane Wissa and Bryan Mbeumo both find the back of the net. Wissa and Mbeumo continued their streak this Saturday with a 3-0 victory over Fulham at Craven Cottage in a game that saw Defender Tim Ream receive a red card. Here is a review of this exciting match.

First Period

Going into the match, major sportsbooks like betway Zambia had predicted pretty even odds for the 6th-placed Fulham and 8th-placed Brentford. The first half held up this prediction, with neither team seeing the back of the net until a little before half-time. A mistake by Issa Diop, Fulham center-back, allowed Wissa to score in the 44th minute and give Brentford a lead.

Brentford had come close to a goal before Mbeumo shot the ball across goal, and Wissa’s connection looked like it would make it before Antonee Robinson shot it back a yard from the line. One minute to half-time, however, Diop tried to pass the ball back to Leno in a strike that came off his toe and put Wissa in on goal. Wissa then rounded Leno to kick the ball into an unguarded net.

Subsequent Goals

Shortly after beginning the second half, Fulham missed the opportunity to level. Bobby Decordova-Reid attempted a left-foot strike from the edge of the box that, unfortunately, connected with the crossbar. Talking to Sky Sports, Fulham manager Marco Silva said of the attempt, ” We started the second half better. We could have equalized.”

The second half proved more fruitful for Brentford, nonetheless. Fulham defender Ream received a second yellow card for a foul against Wissa in the box. After Team walked off, Mbeumo delivered the penalty goal right off the left post. Mbeumo then delivered the match’s third goal in injury time (90+2) in a simple tap-in after Kristoffer Ajer crossed for him.

Tim Ream Penalty and Red Card

Tim Ream’s red card was a major point of contention in the game. Fulham coach Silva expressed dismay over the referee’s decision and mentioned not “seeing anything there.” Silva said, “Looking at the moment, it’s really difficult. I didn’t see anything there.” However, he concluded that the team had to acclimate to the new Premier League rules.

The League has adopted new IFAB guidelines this year, including on timekeeping and offside decisions. Silva maintained that while the decision to kick Ream off was difficult to understand, the team would adapt. Brentford coach Thomas Frank, meanwhile, deemed the penalty well-earned, saying, “[Ream] is in front of Ream, and there’s clear contact.”

Wissa and Mbeumo

But perhaps the highlight of the Saturday match was the performance of Wissa and Mbeumo. The two were directly responsible for all of Brentford’s goals and one of the most remarkable performances of the weekend. Frank has said that he is “very pleased” with Wissa and that the goal was not as easy as it looked because “He [had] to stay composed.” Frank was also certain that Wissa could have scored again.

Mbuemo, whose two goals made him become the joint top EPL scorer from Cameroon, is also in Frank’s good books. The Brentford coach told Sky Sports that he was confident that he and Wissa would “…provide us goals.”

Summing Up: What’s Next?

Fulham will have a chance to redeem themselves next Saturday in an away game against Arsenal. The team will then meet with Tottenham on August 29, as they host the Carabao Cup. Brentford, on the other hand, are set to host Crystal Palace on Saturday before heading to Newport for the Carabao Cup. You can keep up with these and other matches on sportsbooks like Betway.