<figure id="attachment_3004337" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3004337" style="width: 1600px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-3004337" src="https://media.freemalaysiatoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/ecf96dfc-jean-paul-van-hecke-ap-090325.webp" alt="Jean Paul van Hecke AP 090325" width="1600" height="1000" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-3004337" class="wp-caption-text">Jan Paul van Hecke was left completely unmarked to head home his first Brighton goal in the 45th minute. (AP pic)</figcaption></figure>
BRIGHTON: A Joao Pedro penalty in added-time helped Brighton &amp; Hove Albion to snatch a 2-1 home Premier League win over Fulham today and boost their bid to qualify for European football.
Brighton&#8217;s fourth straight league win moved them up two places in the standings to sixth with 46 points from 28 games, one point behind fourth-placed Manchester City, who were beaten 1-0 by Nottingham Forest earlier yesterday.
Fulham remain in ninth.
&#8220;I work for that. I try to stay calm. I was happy to score the winning goal, three points and I&#8217;m very happy. They had their chance to win,&#8221; match-winner Pedro told the BBC.
&#8220;I think both teams tried to play their games. We didn&#8217;t create that much as well. It was a tough game. I think every team dreams to be in the European tournament. Now we just think about Manchester City next week.&#8221;
In a match between two sides who have been enjoying promising campaigns and are aiming to disrupt the Premier League&#8217;s status quo, it was Fulham who drew first blood.
After a cautious opening half-hour, Alex Iwobi brought the game to life when he embarked on a lung-busting run down the right flank and sent in a pinpoint cross that Raul Jimenez chested down and fired past Bart Verbruggen in the 35th minute.
&#8220;When I won the ball, I saw a lot of green grass and decided to keep on running. I saw Raul and I know he likes to pull to the back post. It was a difficult ball to control and finish,&#8221; Iwobi told Sky Sports.
&#8220;Unfortunately, today was not the result we wanted. We want to keep treating each game like a final.&#8221;
Five minutes later the south-coast club equalised through Jan Paul van Hecke, who was left completely unmarked at the far post and headed home a Yasin Ayari freekick for his first Brighton goal.
Brighton upped the pressure at the beginning of the second half and Kaoru Mitoma had a goal disallowed in the 55th minute for offside, before the hosts&#8217; manager Fabian Hurzeler sent on Danny Welbeck and Solly March to try to shake things up.
The changes spurred Brighton into action and they created a flurry of chances in the last 15 minutes.
Welbeck headed wide from a promising position and VAR twice intervened to deny Brighton, with a penalty claim for a foul on Pervis Estupinan waived away and a strike by Simon Adingra ruled out for offside.
Just as it looked like the spoils would be shared, Pedro was bowled over by a clumsy tackle from Harrison Reed in the fifth minute of stoppage time and the Brazil international stepped up to calmly slot home the winner.
The victory was Brighton&#8217;s first over Fulham in the Premier League and brought an end to a nine-game winless run against the London side which stretched back to 2017.

MatchPoint Times

Late Pedro penalty earns Brighton 2-1 win over Fulham

The home side’s fourth straight league victory moved it up two places in the standings to sixth with 46 points.

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