leksandar Mitrovic scored his fifth aim in as many Premier League games as Fulham ended Brighton’s unbeaten begin with a 2-1 victory at Craven Cottage.
The hosts took the lead early in the 2nd half as the ball was labored to Neeskens Kebano following a corner and the winger fizzed a low ball throughout the face of goal for Mitrovic to fire in at the back post.
In the 55th minute, Fulham doubled their benefit as Lewis Dunk inadvertently diverted Andreas Pereira’s low go into his own net.
Brighton pulled one back just 5 minutes later as VAR awarded them a penalty — which Alexis Mac Allister dispatched emphatically into the top corner — however they were unable to pull stage and slumped to their first defeat of the campaign.
Fulham goalscorer Mitrovic hailed the difficult work he and his team-mates put in to impervious the result.
He said: “[It was] tough, simply tough. We gave everything tonight. In the first half, we did not play like we wanted.
“In the 2nd half, we tried to press a little higher and scored two goals, then conceded one sloppy one. We died for each different tonight.
We deserved three points. “We desired to press with greater depth and a little bit greater with our two strikers. We did sincerely nicely particularly in the first 15-20 minutes [of the 2d half].
“We actually wanted three points. Sometimes you have to dig in, work hard. We labored so hard for every other. We desired these three factors [more].
“Brighton’s personal scorer, Mac Allister, counseled his aspect did not attain their normal levels of performance.
He said: “It was a tough second for us. Nine games unbeaten was a excellent record but we could not win. Our first 1/2 was not good. We were not at our level.
“When you come to this area you have to be 100% and we weren’t. We are really sad but we will preserve working and go again on Sunday.
“I think they were two cheap goals. In football, you have to react. We did but it wasn’t enough. It is always nice to score a goal but it means nothing because we lost.
“We go match by match and step by step. We will try to rest then prepare to win at home [against Leicester]. We know we have to win with our fans.”
