Bryan Mbeumo double seals Brentford’s win at Fulham after Tim Ream’s red card

A meeting of west London’s two best teams of last season, 10th hosting ninth. Having endured a far stormier summer and lost so slackly at home to Brentford, Yoane Wissa’s opener and two goals from Bryan Mbeumo sealing their fate, Fulham look in far greater danger of being unable to maintain such standards.

Where will their goals from? The future of Aleksandar Mitrovic, missing with an ankle injury, remains uncertain beyond a reported desire to cash in on the Saudi Arabian gold rush. That Raúl Jiménez’s holdup play might actually be superior to the Serbia striker’s rather diminishes against the statistic that the Mexican has now gone 25 Premier League games without a goal.

Marco Silva, having turned down a Saudi opportunity himself, has been unable to refresh his squad as he would wish, even if Fulham have been beneficiaries of a fire sale at Wolves; Jiménez and Adama Traoré, on the bench, suggest at least one club with deeper problems. Another, Everton, were defeated last week and the Riverside Stand, its central areas still empty as the lengthy building project drags on, is a towering reminder of high-premium jam tomorrow. For now, though, a lack of cutting edge and defending like Issa Diop’s for Wissa’s 44th-minute opener and Tim Ream’s for a decisive penalty spells trouble ahead.

Should Silva retain Mitrovic; Willian, last season’s second-top scorer with just five, another Saudi target; and fellow second-half substitute João Palhinha, back after a shoulder injury and a leading candidate to slake the Premier League elite’s thirst for adept, tactically aware central midfielders; then all may still be well. The transfer window’s final days look to hold the key to whether Fulham’s season is of struggle, or they can properly build on last season’s success.

Brentford, continuing a proud record at Craven Cottage, having only lost twice there since 1981, also remain familiar from last season but looked capable of pushing further onwards and upwards. Their manager, Thomas Frank, continues to impress. If a couple of wobbles from new goalkeeper Mark Flekken, David Raya having joined Arsenal this week, sounded a note of caution, Fulham could not pressure him nearly enough.

Flekken’s first flutter of uncertainty appeared to inspire Fulham to press and chase just as hard as their opponents. It made for a fiercely fought first half, all second balls and closed-off half-spaces. Creative juices were in short supply, though Mathias Jensen, spotting Fulham keeper Bernd Leno way out on safari, almost scored from a free-kick just inside his opponent’s half, the ball swirling wide.

Two more flaps from Flekken further encouraged Fulham though Leno was next asked to save a snapshot from Wissa as Brentford began to find their momentum. It then took Antonee Robinson’s last-ditch scrape of Wissa’s underpowered shot to stop Christian Nørgaard tapping home at the back post.

Wissa was not to be denied, and when Diop made a terrible mess of Kenny Tete’s backpass, the Congolese forward skated to the ball, rounded Leno and slotted into the empty net. Beyond the break, Jensen might have doubled the lead with a volley, Leno saving well. By then, Fulham’s Bobby De Cordova-Reid, last week’s scorer at Goodison, had faded a chip off the crossbar. The scrappiness continued, and Rico Henry was booked for time-wasting when he and Kevin Schade mock-quarrelled over where a throw-in should be aimed.

More Fulham clumsiness sealed their fate, Ream bundling into Wissa. The defender was sent off a second bookable offence, his waving of a dismissive finger doing little to change the mind of the referee, Darren Bond. Up stepped Mbeumo to show that Ivan Toney is not alone in being able to fox a goalkeeper from the spot. The Cameroon forward doubled his total by tapping in from a Kristoffer Ajer pass during what seemed like nine unnecessary minutes added on. By then, the Fulham cause looked long abandoned.