Fulham beaten by injury-time penalty
Fulham 1 Brighton 2
A disputed penalty deep into stoppage time cost Fulham a point in a dramatic finish at Craven Cottage.
Shaun Hutchinson brought down Kazenga LuaLua seconds before full-time but claimed the tackle was outside the box, with Tomer Hemed stroking home the spot-kick.
Fulham had deserved something out of the game after building up a head of steam late in the game, but will rue a string of missed chances.
They had looked flat in the first half, with Brighton taking the lead on the half hour mark when Bruno’s fine delivery from the right was converted by Sam Baldock.
But they drew level thanks to a moment of inspiration from Tom Cairney who fizzed in a left-footed shot from the corner of the box beyond former Whites keeper David Stockdale.
And they could even have been ahead going into half-time but Matt Smith’s header from a free-kick come back off the inside of the post.
LuaLua fired just over for Brighton but that preceded a spell of Fulham dominance in the final quarter of the game, with Smith’s hooked shot palmed over by Stockdale.
The burly Whites striker also headed straight at the Seagulls keeper from an Ashley Richards cross when well placed.
And they were left to regret those opportunites when referee Neil Swarbrick awarded Brighton the penalty that won the game.
Fulham: Bettinelli; Richards, Hutchinson, Bodurov, Voser; Cairney, Christensen, O’Hara, Pringle (Kacaniklic 62); McCormack, Smith (Dembele 83).
Subs: Lonergan, Kacaniklic, Mattila, Woodrow, Tunnicliffe, Dembele, Burn.
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15/08/2015 @ 6:36 pm
Well, Kit is at it again with poor managerial decisions. Bringing off Matt Smith took the pressure off Brighton. The defence looked very poor which you would come to expect from a Symons side. There is potential to improve but under a professional managers eye.