JOAO PEDRO fired home the winning penalty as Brighton were awarded a last-gasp spot-kick after the fifth and final minute of injury time.
Referee Sam Barrott pointed to the spot 30 seconds after injury time was up, after what looked like a soft foul from Harrison Reed on Pedro.
Pedro stepped up and ended Brighton’s curse against Fulham, having never won in all of their previous nine Premier League meetings.
In the first-half Jan Paul van Hecke had cancelled out Raul Jimenez’s opener as nothing could separate these two Europe chasers.
Alex Iwobi did brilliantly to set up the opener, charging beyond Pervis Estupinan to fire an inch-perfect cross to Jimenez to hammer home at the near post on 36 minutes.
Jimenez, who clearly hasn’t quite mastered the art of a back-flip, opted for a dive into the air and then a forward roll.
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Supporters on both sides were worried he was about to land on the very noggin which suffered a fractured skull in 2020.
The celebration wasn’t pretty, but Fulham fans won’t care with the Mexican striker making it ten goals in the Premier League this season.
The lead lasted just five-minutes though with Paul van Hecke to Brighton’s rescue with a stunning header on 42 minutes.
The Dutch defender stormed into the box and headed back Yasin Ayari’s free-kick the other way, well beyond Bernd Leno.
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Brighton burst out the traps after the break with Kaoru Mitoma having a goal chalked off for Yankuba Minteh offside in the build up on 54 minutes, which VAR agreed with.
The hosts hit back again with a Pedro cross headed back across goal by Minteh, who tried to find Mitoma but the Japan winger was unable to make the crucial touch.
Livid Brighton fans roared that they should have been given a penalty after Pervis Estupinan was tripped in the box by Timothy Castagne, but VAR concurred with referee Barrott’s decision not to award it.
The flag went up for offside as Simon Adingra unleashed a low drive into the net in what looked like a dramatic late winner with two minutes of normal time to spare.
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
