Substitute Manor Solomon got here again to hang-out former boss Roberto De Zerbi as Fulham snatched a dramatic 1-0 Premier League win over fellow high-fliers Brighton.
Israel worldwide Solomon, who performed underneath De Zerbi at Shakhtar Donetsk, struck two minutes from time on the Amex Stadium after Albion had dominated.
Solly March and Facundo Buonanotte had targets disallowed for the Seagulls, who failed to attain within the prime flight for the primary time since October, regardless of registering 21 makes an attempt.
Fulham, with out star striker Aleksandar Mitrovic resulting from a minor damage, struggled for a foothold within the recreation for almost all of the afternoon earlier than the late twist boosted their hopes of European qualification on the expense of their hosts.
Loanee Solomon’s second objective in as many matches strikes Marco Silva’s males above Brighton into sixth spot, albeit they’ve performed two video games extra.
De Zerbi, who berated referee Darren England following the ultimate whistle, had spoken candidly of his need to convey continental soccer to Sussex on the again of taking 20 factors from the final 30 accessible.
His in-form aspect started with function and intent as they managed proceedings towards top-half rivals lacking their foremost supply of targets.
Evan Ferguson lashed over and March curled huge early on, whereas Joel Veltman’s highly effective try on the finish of a well-worked free-kick routine was later blocked by Tim Ream.
Fulham provided nearly nothing from an attacking perspective however continued to defend doggedly, though they typically regarded inclined to being carved open by the Seagulls’ slick interaction.
Cottagers goalkeeper Bernd Leno needed to be alert to smother the ball as Ferguson burst by way of on objective and was then well-positioned to cease Alexis Mac Allister’s stinging volley.
The sample of play, with Brighton patiently probing because the guests sat again, persevered into the second interval.
Seagulls captain Lewis Dunk headed narrowly off beam from an out-swinging March nook earlier than the hosts, who suffered VAR frustration in final weekend’s 1-1 at Crystal Palace when Pervis Etupinan incorrectly had a objective dominated out for offside, known as for Stockley Park intervention to assist a penalty attraction.
Veltman tumbled within the field underneath a problem from Antonee Robinson following Kaoru Mitoma’s low cross however, after Leno denied March from the unfastened ball, match official England caught along with his determination to award a nook.
With the perceived injustice firing up the house crowd, Albion continued to push ahead in quest of a breakthrough.
March poked house on the again put up after Adam Webster nodded on a Pascal Gross nook however was clearly offside earlier than Leno produced a fantastic reflex cease to disclaim Mac Allister’s close-range volley.
Fulham’s top-flight scoring statistics counsel an over-reliance on the absent Mitrovic.
Four-goal Bobby De Cordova-Reid was their main scorer on present on the south coast and he threatened with a blocked try throughout a uncommon burst ahead.
But the one-way site visitors was largely unrelenting.
Brighton had been denied by a flag for a second time within the 77th minute resulting from Deniz Undav being marginally offside earlier than squaring for fellow substitute Buonanotte to fit in.
German ahead Undav – nonetheless looking for his first objective in English soccer – then threatened with two quick-fire headers, a glancing effort which flashed huge following a tame close-range try.
Albion had by no means crushed Fulham within the prime flight and that run continued following the painful sucker-punch.
After a Seagulls assault broke down, Solomon was launched by fellow substitute Carlos Vinicius earlier than expertly steering a low effort into the appropriate nook.