Harry Wilson's stunning free-kick in the 92nd minute secured a dramatic 2-1 victory for Fulham over Brighton at Craven Cottage on Saturday. The Welshman's late heroics completed a second-half comeback for the Cottagers, who had fallen behind to an earlier strike from Brighton's Yasin Ayari.
Brighton started the match strongly, with Ayari's impressive right-footed shot from the left side of the box finding the top left corner in the 28th minute, assisted by Olivier Boscagli. The Seagulls continued to press, and came close to extending their lead, but Fulham managed to limit the damage and went into the break trailing by just one goal.
Fulham emerged with renewed purpose in the second half. Their persistence paid off in the 72nd minute when Samuel Chukwueze latched onto a precise 50-yard pass from Joachim Andersen and slotted the ball past Brighton's goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen.
Just moments after Fulham's equalizer, Brighton thought they had regained the lead through Danny Welbeck. However, the goal was disallowed by VAR for offside. As the clock ticked down, both teams searched for a winning goal. In the dying moments, Charalambos Kostoulas clipped Josh King, handing Fulham a free-kick in a promising position. Harry Wilson stepped up and delivered a sublime strike from 25 yards out, his effort beating Verbruggen. The goalkeeper got a hand to it but couldn't keep it out, sending the Craven Cottage crowd into raptures. Wilson's goal was his ninth of the season.
Fulham's victory moves them up to seventh in the Premier League table. Meanwhile, Brighton's poor run of form continues, with just one win in their last 10 league games, leaving them in mid-table.
Brighton's head coach, Fabian Hurzeler, defended his goalkeeper after the match, saying, "We can't give the responsibility there for Bart, he's played a great season and sometimes these kinds of things happen". He added, "Sometimes you can't control everything in football. Young players make mistakes and therefore we have to give them protection, we have to give them the self-confidence that they learn from it and do it better the next time".
The match showcased an exciting second-half turnaround from Fulham, with Harry Wilson's stunning free-kick the decisive moment in a hard-fought victory.
