Fulham edges Brentford 3-2
A pair of headed goals by Fulham and (another) winner by Harry Wilson spoiled the atmosphere at the Gtech Community Stadium for the final Brentford home game of the season.
Let's check the pre-game Correlation FC predictions:
Pre-game prediction #1
Fulham will make more subs than Brentford in this game.
Wrong. Both teams made 4 subs.
Pre-game prediction #2
Brentford and Fulham will beat that average and will combine for 36 or more crosses.
Right. It was close, but each team had 19 crosses, for a combined total of 38.
Pre-game prediction #3
There will not be a penalty in this game.
Wrong. It was a borderline call, but the Bees were awarded a penalty in the first half.
Pre-game prediction #4
Brentford will only take in-swingers and Fulham will take a mix of in- and out-swingers.
Close enough. Brentford took 5 in-swingers. Fulham only had a single corner and it was an out-swinger.
Pre-game prediction #5
Barring injury, red card or other freak event, neither team will make a sub before the 60th minute.
Wrong. Fulham made a tactical substitute at half-time.
Trends that continued
Throw it in the net
The Bees scored their 6th goal of the season from a throw-in. It would have been Christian Norgaard's goal, but Yoane Wissa knocked it in from about 3 inches out to claim the goal. Norgaard didn't seem to mind.
Harry Wilson and Fulham goals from the bench
Wilson scored his 3rd goal in 2 games against Brentford this season, all coming as a sub. Fulham has had an outstanding 17 goals this season from the bench, compared to only 3 for Brentford.
Wissa to Mbeumo
There's been a lot of discussion this season about the strong connection between Wissa and Bryan Mbeumo. Wissa earned his 4th assist of the season on the opening goal. All 4 assists have come on goals by Mbeumo.
Mbeumo the right footer
After not scoring a right footed goal for the Bees in years, 2 out of Mbeumo's last 3 goals have been scored right footed.
Mbeumo scores first
Speaking of Mbeumo, his goal against Fulham opened the scoring for Brentford. 11 of his 19 goals this season have been Brentford's first goal of the game, with 8 of those 11 coming at 0-0. While that suggests that he has done a great job of scoring early in the game, he's got an even split of 10 first half goals and 9 second half goals.
Bulk subs
Thomas Frank introduced a trio of substitutes at the 75th minute. He's dramatically changed the lineup on a few other occasions this season.
Occasions when the Bees have made 3 or more subs at once in 2024-25 (source Correlation FC)
| Date | Opponent | Time | Players | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30th November 2024 | Leicester City | 70' | Yehor Yarmoliuk, Fabio Carvalho, Thiago | Up 4-1. Final 4-1. |
| 15th December 2024 | Chelsea | 70' | Carvalho, Kevin Schade, Kristoffer Ajer | Down 1-0. Final 2-1 Chelsea. |
| 1st January 2025 | Arsenal | 75' | Mathias Jensen, Schade, Paris Maghoma, Ji-Soo Kim | Tied 1-1. Final 1-1. |
| 4th May 2025 | Manchester United | 81' | Ajer, Thiago, Gustavo Nunes | Up 4-1. Final 4-3. |
| 18th May 2025 | Fulham | 75' | Jensen, Rico Henry, Thiago | Down 3-2. Final 3-2 Fulham. |
Tie it up
Mbeumo's goal tied the game at 1-1. It was the 10th time this season that the Bees have tied the game after going behind.
What was different
A miss from the penalty spot
After Kevin Schade was fouled in the box, Mbeumo had a chance to put the Bees up 2-1. For the first time in his Bees career his missed from the penalty spot (assuming you overlook the miss at Crystal Palace that was wiped out when a Palace player moved too quickly). It would have been his 6th successful penalty this season. It was the first time this season that he shot to the left.
Shot map of Bryan Mbeumo's Brentford penalties (source Correlation FC)
Mbeumo + Wissa scoring = loss ??
This was the 7th time this season that Mbeumo and Wissa have scored in the same game. Unfortunately for the Bees, it was the first time that the team have lost when the combination have both scored.
This story was originally published on 19 May 2025 and was last updated on 19 May 2025 at 22:30. It was written by Dennis Flood. The image at the top of this story was generated using AI.
