It just had to be him, didn’t it? Harry Wilson stepped up off the bench to end Brentford’s hopes of European football with a stunning, swerving strike that capped off another stirring second half Fulham comeback six months after the Welshman’s dramatic double in added time had prevented Thomas Frank’s team from leaving Craven Cottage with all three points. Wilson’s 30-yarder arrived just two minutes after captain Tom Cairney had headed in an equaliser to bring Marco Silva’s men level in a wild west London derby that also saw Bernd Leno superbly save a spot-kick from Bryan Mbuemo.

The result of this enthralling end-to-end encounter was that the bragging rights belong to Fulham, who completed a first league double over their Hounslow neighbours for the first time in 77 years. The three points also saw the Whites break the club record Premier League points tally, previously established by Roy Hodgson’s team in the year before his side went all the way to the Europa League final. Fulham might have lost form at just the wrong time in their own quest for continental qualification, but Silva’s side showed commendable character to come back after squandering an early lead.

The away team sheet showed three changes from an abject surrender against Everton last week with Antonee Robinson and Sasa Lukic fit to replace Ryan Sessegnon and Andreas Pereira, whilst Adama Traore’s pace and power saw him come in for Wilson out wide. The Spanish speedster’s telepathic understanding with Raul Jimenez was soon on display, but the Mexican veteran saw an early snapshot diverted behind and another blocked shortly afterwards.

The hosts soon created an opening of their own when Yoane Wissa raced onto a Mikkel Damsgaard’s delightful pass but Bernd Leno spread him to save. The game was uncharacteristically open for a local derby usually fraught with tension and Smith Rowe was disappointed to not beat Mark Flekken with a low drive from a good position. But Fulham’s disappointment was brief. Traore surged down the right flank and his cross, slightly deflected off a defender, was headed through the grasp of Flekken by Jimenez. You can certainly see why Fulham extended the former Wolves’ pair’s contracts in midweek.

But Brentford were only behind for six minutes as Traore tamely gave possession away in his own half and was ruthlessly punished by Mbuemo, who sprinted into the box and fired a low shot into the far corner with a modicum of fuss. Fulham were suddenly at six and sevens and, even if Jared Gillett’s award of a penalty after Kevin Schade tumbled over either his own feet or those of Joachim Andersen looked generous, the visitors were indebted to Leno, who made a stunning low save to keep out Mbuemo’s spot-kick.

Chances continued to come at either end. Traore’s shot was rather simple for Flekken but the flying winger than set up an identical chance to the one with which Jimenez opened the scoring, although this time the Bees goalkeeper kept out the header. The hosts went in front two minutes from half time when Fulham failed to deal with a long throw and, though Leno kept out Norgaard’s header, Wissa – who could also have seen red for but for Gillett’s laissez faire approach – wasn’t going to miss from barely a yard out.

Cairney came on for a subdued Sander Berge at the start of the second half, which was much cagier than what proceeded it for the first quarter of an hour. Tete, perhaps fortunate to still be on the field after two bad fouls on Schade, saw a shot blocked before he produced a peach of a cross that Cairney climbed to glance out of Flekken’s reach to bring Fulham level. Wilson, only on the pitch for five minutes, then reprised his role of matchwinner from November with a brilliant, bending 30-yarder that utterly flummoxed Flekken.

A befuddled Brentford hadn’t mustered a shot and the home fans feared their European hopes were fading away but Frank, who proclaimed this the most important top-flight fixture in his club’s history on Thursday, upped the tempo with a triple substitution. Leno produced another stop to keep out Damsgaard’s powerful header and the pendulum swung from one way to another during seven absorbing added minutes. Cairney nearly settled the issue with a lovely lob that just cleared the crossbar and Fulham survived to celebrate a return to winning ways after edging this compelling clash.

BRENTFORD (4-2-3-1): Flekken; Lewis-Potter (Thiago 75), Kayode (Ajer 63), Collins, van den Berg; Norgaard, Yarmoliuk (Jensen 75); Mbuemo, Schade (Henry 75), Damsgaard; Wissa. Subs (not used): Valdimarsson, Pinnock, Ajer, Mee, Konak, Nunes.

BOOKED: Wissa, van den Berg, Lewis-Potter, Norgaard.

GOAL: Mbuemo (22), Wissa (43).

FULHAM (4-2-3-1): Leno; Tete, A. Robinson (Cuenca 89), Andersen, Bassey; Lukic, Berge (Cairney 45); Traore (R. Sessegnon 80), Iwobi (Wilson 66), Smith Rowe (King 66); Jimenez. Subs (not used): Benda, Pereira, Willian, Vinicius.

BOOKED: Tete, Smith Rowe, Andersen, Leno.

GOAL: Jimenez (17), Cairney (68), Wilson (70).

REFEREE: Jared Gillett (Australia).

ATTENDANCE: 17,136.