Alex Iwobi continued his red-hot form by leading Fulham to victory and up to sixth in the Premier League with two goals in a 3-1 win over Brighton.
The 28-year-old was deployed deeper than usual in central midfield yet pressed high to capitalise on a Brighton mistake in the fourth minute and then curled in a late third for the hosts to make it three goals and two assists in his last four appearances.
Brighton, whose manager Fabian Hurzeler was serving a one-match touchline ban, had controlled the first half after conceding early from Bart Verbruggen’s error. Joao Pedro was denied by Bernd Leno from a tight angle and then Simon Adringra’s close-range effort was kept out by the goalkeeper.
However, they deservedly levelled 11 minutes into the second half when Jan Paul van Hecke’s long pass into Pedro was cushioned down into the path of Carlos Baleba, who struck a left-footed volley into the bottom-left corner from the edge of the box and celebrated with a somersault.
The game was in the balance until Fulham substitute Andreas Pereira had his corner deflected into the Brighton net by their own midfielder Matt O’Riley.
But Iwobi made sure he would steal the show, bending a perfect effort into the bottom-right corner with three minutes left to secure the points.
Iwobi: I should be scoring more!
Fulham’s Alex Iwobi celebrates scoring the opening goal against Brighton with Rodrigo Muniz
Fulham match-winner Alex Iwobi said:
“We wanted to get a win on the board after our last game against Spurs. There’s no better place to do it than at our place. I should be getting more goals but it was good to get them for the team.
“We see the ability in training. This performance gives us a boost going into Arsenal, who are on a good run.”
Hurzeler backs Verbruggen to learn from errors
Only rock-bottom Southampton (9) have had more errors leading to goals in the Premier League this season than Brighton (6) – and Verbruggen has been at the heart of them.
The goalkeeper has been responsible for three, the joint-most in the league and handed Fulham the initiative with a poor pass out from the back that allowed Iwobi to slot home the opener.
Verbruggen has been Hurzeler’s No 1 having been heavily rotated with Jason Steele under Roberto De Zerbi – and the Brighton boss is standing by his man.
Bart Verbruggen (middle) apologises to the Brighton fans
“It’s exactly what I demand from Bart, the players from the back, to find solutions on the ground and we have to reflect and we have to give him feedback about the mistakes,” he said.
“But I will never judge him because I’m completely convinced that the players will improve if they find solutions on the ground. The players will also improve by making these mistakes because they will grow as a person, they will grow as a player.
“If you don’t do mistakes in football there won’t happen any goals, so we keep working with him, we keep trying to bring more clarity in these situations and then hopefully it won’t happen again.”
Silva: A big three points – Iwobi did amazing job
Fulham celebrate Matt O’Riley’s own goal which gave them a 2-1 lead against Brighton
Fulham boss Marco Silva said:
“It was a big three points for us in a tough game. We started in the best way possible with the early goal but Brighton made it really difficult for us in the first half. They started with three at the back and it made it difficult for us to connect with the wide players.
“Second half we were much better. We conceded in a moment we should prepare better for the long ball. It was a good shot from the edge of the box. Difficult game but a big three points for us.
“We played with Alex Iwobi in a different position. He’s an offensive player and did an amazing job.”
Hurzeler: We didn’t deserve defeat
Brighton head coach Fabian Hurzeler said:
“We all know that’s not the result we deserve, we deserved much more. We created a lot of chances. We conceded goals from an easy mistake in the build-up, from an own goal from a set-piece and I don’t remember any other chance, so that was very disappointing.
“The team played very well in possession. Out of possession, there were some things we had to improve, but in possession, we had good patterns and we have to be more clinical, more clean enough in the opponent’s box and if you’re not scoring in the right moment you get punished.”
