Fulham secured their first win of the Premier League season after a nightmare late Gabriel Gudmundsson own goal handed them a 1-0 victory over Leeds United at Craven Cottage.
The home side were on the back foot for the majority of the match but were gifted three points in the fourth minute of stoppage time when Gudmundsson headed a Sasa Lukic corner into his own net from around 12 yards.
Leeds had been on top in the first half, with Sean Longstaff going closest when he struck the woodwork just before the break, but they could not find a way past Fulham goalkeeper Bernd Leno.
Marco Silva's side pushed on in the second period, with Emile Smith Rowe and Kevin – on his debut – going close before they finally got the breakthrough at the death.
How the match unfolded
Dominic Calvert-Lewin had the first chance of the match 16 minutes in, but his flicked header from Brenden Aaronson’s cross was straight at Leno.
In what was a very quiet first half, Longstaff went closest for Leeds two minutes before the break when his drilled first-time effort from Calvert-Lewin’s knockdown skimmed the top of the crossbar.
Aaronson then forced Leno into a save at his near post early in the second period before Kenny Tete made a last-ditch challenge to deny Noah Okafor, and Fulham grew into the game.
Darlow was finally called into action in the 58th minute as he denied Wilson’s goal-bound free-kick, before also stopping a close-range effort from Muniz 10 minutes later to keep Leeds level.
Fulham continued to push, and second-half substitute Kevin forced a great fingertip save from Darlow in added time, and a wrong-footed Gudmundsson put the ball past his own goalkeeper from the resulting corner.
Fulham achieve lift off
Silva will be glad to see his Fulham side get their maiden win of the campaign after frustration in their first three outings, but they were made to work at home.
They were far from their best in this game and did not register a shot until the 58th minute, when Rodrigo Muniz won a free-kick for the Cottagers.
Fulham struggled against Leeds’ low block in the first half but stayed firm against their visitors’ pressure. They did not fare much better after the break either, when their opponents held a higher line in search of a victory.
The hosts looked more dangerous following the introductions of Smith Rowe and debutant Kevin, who also created a great chance for Lukic, who scuffed an acrobatic effort, in the final 10 minutes of the match.
With home games against Brentford in the Premier League and Cambridge United in the EFL Cup next for Fulham, Silva will be hoping that his team can now build on this win.
Farke’s attack blunted again
After a third consecutive game without a goal from Leeds, Daniel Farke will have plenty of questions on how he can get the best out of his forwards.
Calvert-Lewin led the frontline for Leeds in this match, making his first Premier League start for the club, becoming the third different player to do so for Farke’s side in four league matches this season.
The former Everton striker was often used as Leeds’ outlet option as they looked to sit deep against Fulham before hitting them on the counter-attack, a system that looked like it could garner a reward.
Although Calvert-Lewin was often isolated in the final third, he was a constant presence in the box when the visitors looked to send in a cross, highlighted by his early chance.
He always occupied the space between Calvin Bassey and Joachim Andersen; however, crosses from full-backs Gudmundsson and Jayden Bogle were often off the mark.
Despite promising signs from Calvert-Lewin, only Lukas Nmecha has scored for Farke in the league this season, though Longstaff was only inches away from changing that in the first half.
With a trip to Wolverhampton Wanderers followed by home matches against AFC Bournemouth and Tottenham Hotspur, Farke will be hoping his attack can kick into gear sooner rather than later.
Club reports
What the managers said
Marco Silva: "[We won through] an own goal in the last minute of the game so we have to feel a bit fortunate. A nice feeling for us, a difficult feeling for Daniel and the Leeds boys but that is part of the game.
"It was important for us to keep a clean sheet because we need to create this habit and it allowed us to go on and try to win the game."
Next PL fixtures
Key facts
Following their 94th-minute winner, Fulham have won three consecutive league meetings with Leeds for the first time ever.
This is just the third time Fulham have won a Premier League game 1-0 thanks to an opposition own goal (Gudmundsson for Leeds), after January 2002 v Derby County (Horacio Carbonari) and May 2012 v Liverpool (Martin Skrtel).
Leeds have lost each of their last nine Premier League away games in London, conceding an average of three goals per match in this run (27 in total).
Leeds have scored just one goal in the Premier League so far this season (v Everton on Matchweek 1), with this being their fewest after four games of a league campaign in the club’s history.