Alex Iwobi was the star of the show as his brace helped Fulham to a 3-1 victory over Brighton & Hove Albion on Thursday.

Iwobi capitalised on Bart Verbruggen's early error in the fourth minute to get the home side off to a flying start at Craven Cottage.

Carlos Baleba finished expertly after neat work from Joao Pedro to bring Brighton level in the 56th minute, but Matt O'Riley's own goal restored Fulham's lead.

And Iwobi wrapped up the points with a lovely bending effort in the closing stages to settle an entertaining contest.

Victory lifts Fulham into sixth, just a point and a place behind Brighton in a congested top half of the Premier League.

How the match unfolded

Iwobi pounced on Verbruggen's sloppy pass inside the penalty area to side-foot casually home after only four minutes.

Bernd Leno kept out Joao Pedro at the other end after he got in behind Calvin Bassey and Simon Adingra will feel he should have done better when shooting straight at the goalkeeper from Kaoru Mitoma's excellent low centre.

Rodrigo Muniz headed agonisingly wide from Antonee Robinson's clipped cross on the stroke of half-time and Harry Wilson almost caught Brighton cold immediately from kick-off.

Jan Paul van Hecke put a free header over the top from O'Riley's corner but it was the defender's long punt that Joao Pedro exquisitely flicked into the path of Baleba, who drilled into the bottom-left corner from 20 yards.

Yet Fulham retook the lead on 79 minutes when Andreas Pereira's in-swinging corner deflected into the bottom-right corner off the unfortunate O'Riley.

Iwobi then had the final say, showing neat footwork to create space in the left-hand side of the area before brilliantly curling a low strike into the far corner.

Iwobi finds a way for Fulham

There might be 20 days until Christmas but Fulham were handed an early festive gift from Verbruggen that the excellent Iwobi was all too happy to receive.

In truth, the early goal was at odds with a first half in which the visitors were the more forward-thinking team and Marco Silva was grateful to his goalkeeper for thwarting Adingra after 34 minutes.

Fulham always carried a goal threat, though, and Muniz ought to have done better when leaping high to meet Robinson's fantastic cross from the left shortly before the break.

However, there was a sense of inevitability about the equaliser, albeit it was a move right out of the very top drawer that broke Fulham's resistance.

But in credit to the hosts they reset themselves well and, after a bit of fortune for their second, there was no luck involved for Iwobi's magical effort late on, which put the match well beyond the reach of Brighton.

In an encounter that was so closely fought, the ex-Everton and Arsenal star – who will go up against the Gunners in Fulham’s next outing – found a way to be a difference maker for his side.

Head-scratcher for Hurzeler

Fabian Hurzeler will have been frustrated by Brighton's early blunder but, given he does like to encourage his team to play from the back, will probably forgive his goalkeeper’s mistake.

Indeed, it will likely have irritated the Brighton head coach more that despite some fantastic patterns of play, his side struggled to make the most of the opportunities they carved out in an opening 45 minutes full of enterprise but lacking in conviction.

Having survived a couple more scares, though, Hurzeler – watching from the stands as he served a one-match touchline ban – will have been thrilled with the class the Seagulls displayed to equalise.

Van Hecke's arrowed pass was expertly cushioned down by Joao Pedro but Baleba still had plenty to do as he cut across the ball and beyond Leno, who was at full stretch.

What will not have thrilled Brighton’s boss is the way his team failed to build on the momentum thereafter, even if it was unlucky that O'Riley got the final touch from that Fulham corner.

And when Iwobi's brilliant third went in, you feel Hurzeler will have been scratching his head at just how this match got away from Brighton – who have still yet to beat Fulham in nine Premier League meetings.

Club reports

Fulham report | Brighton report

What the managers said

Fabian Hurzeler: "The performance is not the result so I think that we have to be honest that it was good enough to win the game. We were punished for easy mistakes and you can make them in football. In the end, we created enough chances to win the game. We didn't get what we deserved today."

Marco Silva: "It was a big three points for us in a tough game. We started in the best way possible with the early goal but Brighton made it really difficult for us in the first half. They started with three at the back and it made it difficult for us to connect with the wide players.

"We had chances as well. Second half we were much better. We conceded in a moment we should prepare better for the long ball. It was a good shot from the edge of the box. Difficult game but a big three points for us."

Match officials

Referee: Peter Bankes. Assistants: Eddie Smart, Nick Greenhalgh. Fourth official: James Linington. VAR: Paul Tierney. Assistant VAR: Steve Meredith.