Fulham ended a four-game losing streak by defeating Wolves in a tense clash at Craven Cottage. Brazilian attacking midfielder Willian’s 94th-minute penalty, his second of the game, helped Fulham to secure a dramatic 3-2 Premier League triumph over Wolverhampton Wanderers on Monday. After seven minutes, Alex Iwobi gave Fulham the lead with a beautiful finish, putting Antonee Robinson’s cut-back through Wolves keeper Jose Sa’s knees from close range. The visitors equalized in the 22nd minute, thanks to excellent play by Jean-Ricner Bellegarde, who beat Robinson twice down the right before finding Matheus Cunha unmarked to nod home.
On 59 minutes, Willian’s first penalty gave Fulham the lead after a Nelson Semedo challenge on Tom Cairney was confirmed as a foul by the match referee. On 75 minutes, Hwang Hee-chan scored from the penalty spot to level the scores. The South Korean winger scored his eighth league goal of the season. However, VAR awarded a penalty for Joao Gomes’ reckless foul on replacement Harry Wilson late in the game, with Willian sending Sa the wrong way and Craven Cottage into raptures.
Fulham moved up to 14th spot (15 points) in the table with the win, their first in five league games. Wolves stayed in 12th place with the same number of points. Wolves have already been on the wrong side of VAR several times this season, and manager Gary O’Neil believes Monday’s encounter may have finally turned me against VAR.
O’Neil informed Sky Sports that he spoke with referee Michael Salisbury after the game, and the match official had admitted he should have been sent to the VAR monitor for Fulham’s first penalty. O’Neil also stated that Tim Ream should have earned a second yellow card after giving away a penalty and that Carlos Vinicius of Fulham should have been sent off for a headbutt on Max Kilman. You can argue that two of them could go against us, but all four go against us. It’s a tough one for the lads, supporters, and myself to take. We’ve been here a lot this season. We didn’t deserve that, O’Neil added.
Fulham manager Marco Silva told Sky Sports that the third and deciding spot kick was “a clear penalty,” but that “the first for us and the one for them were a little softer.” Fulham will next play third-placed Liverpool on December 3, Sunday at Anfield.
