4th August 2020
By Adam Holt
One of the richest games in world football to decide who gets promoted to the promised land of the Premier League and who has to stay in the Championship for at least another season.
This year's final was between two London rivals, Brentford and Fulham. Brentford were looking to return to the top flight of English football for the first time since 1947, and Fulham were looking for an immediate return to the elite of English football.
First the line-ups...
Brentford (4-3-3)
GK: David Raya
RB: Dalsgaard
CB: Jansson
CB: Pinnock
LB: Henry
CM: Dasilva
CM: Norgaard
CM: Jensen
LW: Benrahma
ST: Watkins
RW: Mbeumo
Substitutes: Canos, Valencia, Marcondes, Dervisoglu, Jeanvier, Fosu, Daniels (GK), Zamburek & Roerslev.
Manager: Thomas Frank
Fulham (4-2-3-1)
GK: Rodak
RB: Odoi
CB: Hector
CB: Ream
LB: Bryan
CM: Reed
CM: Cariney
LW: Decordova-Reid
CAM: Onomah
RW: Kebano
ST: Kamara
Substitutes: Bettinelli (GK), McDonald, Johansen, Mitrovic, Cavaleiro, Le Marchand, Christie, Knockaert, Sessegnon.
Manager: Scott Parker.
Now for the game...
The Championship Play-Off final at Wembley last night was obviously a massive game for both London clubs, with one club, Brentford, hoping to end a 73 year absence from England's top flight. Contrastingly, Fulham were looking to secure their immediate return to the Premier League under Scott Parker's first full season in management.
The game itself was fairly uneventful, with both sides seemingly lacking inspiration in the final third with the game mainly being contested in the middle of the park. It was evenly contested, with Fulham perhaps edging the game in terms of which team were on top in the richest game in football. Brentford though, in the game possibly had the best chances with chances from set-pieces and balls being fizzed into the Fulham box, but unfortunately for the Bees, the ball escaped the touch of the prolific Ollie Watkins. With their stars not at their best in this game, and with Fulham taking control Brentford were going to find it hard to beat Fulham to gain promotion. The game was at a breath-taking pace towards to end of the ninety minutes, but there was a lack of inspiration going forward from both sides in the first ninety minutes of the contest. 0-0 going into extra time. And the drama begins.
The opener in this tight contest came early into extra time at Wembley, when Fulham launched a counter attack against Brentford and won a free-kick from a fair distance away from David Raya's goal. However, the Spaniard was unable to save the shot from Joe Bryan, who took the shot on from the free kick which caught Raya out, who was a way off his goal line, and the shot went past him into the back of the net. 1-0 Fulham.
Both teams did not want to give as much away, with both teams maybe tiring slightly, with Fulham wanting to at least protect their slim lead, and Brentford were no keen to get the equaliser but also making sure they didn't concede another goal, which would condemn the Bees to defeat. Unluckily for Brentford, around ten minutes after the opening goal, Fulham struck again, this time on the counter attack, with Joe Bryan being put one-on-one with Raya, with the Spanish goalkeeper unable from stopping Bryan from placing the ball into the back of the Bees' net. 2-0 Fulham.
Brentford were now only focused on attacking Fulham's final third trying to save their bid for promotion, but being 2-0 down with only a few minutes left it was always unlikely that the Bees would be able to save this game. But, with the Championship being one of the most unpredictable leagues in the world, who knows? Brentford still had a chance, despite how little time left, oweing to how Brentford have been brilliant going forward all season. In the final seconds of the game, Brentford won a set piece, which was put in the back of the net from Henrik Dalsgaard who put his header beyond Marek Rodak. Too little too late. It was now Full Time, Fulham were promoted back to the Premier League at the first time of asking, with Brentford having to stay in the Championship for another year, with the very real possibility that many of their star players will now leave, following their failure to secure promotion.
The 2020/21 Premier League line-up is now complete.
The game itself was fairly uneventful, with both sides seemingly lacking inspiration in the final third with the game mainly being contested in the middle of the park. It was evenly contested, with Fulham perhaps edging the game in terms of which team were on top in the richest game in football. Brentford though, in the game possibly had the best chances with chances from set-pieces and balls being fizzed into the Fulham box, but unfortunately for the Bees, the ball escaped the touch of the prolific Ollie Watkins. With their stars not at their best in this game, and with Fulham taking control Brentford were going to find it hard to beat Fulham to gain promotion. The game was at a breath-taking pace towards to end of the ninety minutes, but there was a lack of inspiration going forward from both sides in the first ninety minutes of the contest. 0-0 going into extra time. And the drama begins.
The opener in this tight contest came early into extra time at Wembley, when Fulham launched a counter attack against Brentford and won a free-kick from a fair distance away from David Raya's goal. However, the Spaniard was unable to save the shot from Joe Bryan, who took the shot on from the free kick which caught Raya out, who was a way off his goal line, and the shot went past him into the back of the net. 1-0 Fulham.
Both teams did not want to give as much away, with both teams maybe tiring slightly, with Fulham wanting to at least protect their slim lead, and Brentford were no keen to get the equaliser but also making sure they didn't concede another goal, which would condemn the Bees to defeat. Unluckily for Brentford, around ten minutes after the opening goal, Fulham struck again, this time on the counter attack, with Joe Bryan being put one-on-one with Raya, with the Spanish goalkeeper unable from stopping Bryan from placing the ball into the back of the Bees' net. 2-0 Fulham.
Brentford were now only focused on attacking Fulham's final third trying to save their bid for promotion, but being 2-0 down with only a few minutes left it was always unlikely that the Bees would be able to save this game. But, with the Championship being one of the most unpredictable leagues in the world, who knows? Brentford still had a chance, despite how little time left, oweing to how Brentford have been brilliant going forward all season. In the final seconds of the game, Brentford won a set piece, which was put in the back of the net from Henrik Dalsgaard who put his header beyond Marek Rodak. Too little too late. It was now Full Time, Fulham were promoted back to the Premier League at the first time of asking, with Brentford having to stay in the Championship for another year, with the very real possibility that many of their star players will now leave, following their failure to secure promotion.
The 2020/21 Premier League line-up is now complete.
Man of the Match: Joe Bryan (Fulham) - It must be said that the whole Fulham team was excellent throughout the ninety minutes, but the reason Bryan is man of the match is because he scored the two goals that secured Fulham's immediate return to the top flight.
One last thing...
Congratulations to Fulham for securing promotion alongside Leeds United and West Brom. I feel for Brentford, who have been fantastic all season, who fell at the final hurdle. The Bees will have to wait at least another year to try and end their long absence from England's top flight. Both teams obviously wanted to win the game, but Fulham seemed faster and sharper throughout the game and ultimately secured their promotion back to the Premier League.
With the line-ups of all of England's leagues now complete fans, managers and players alike will now be looking forward to the new season.
With the line-ups of all of England's leagues now complete fans, managers and players alike will now be looking forward to the new season.