Are Brentford heading into Europe?! Ivan Toney penalty helps Bees claim west London bragging rights over Fulham

• Toney, Pinnock & Jensen score for Brentford
• Solomon continues hot streak for Fulham & Vinicius nets late
• Bees continue to dream of European football

TELL ME MORE: Early in the first half, and just moments after Bryan Mbeumo had submitted a miss of the season contender, the Bees took the lead when Ethan Pinnock saw his unorthodox effort deflect off Tim Ream and into the net. Against the run of play, Fulham levelled on the stroke of half-time. Manor Solomon was the hero again - his fourth in as many Premier League games - as he converted the rebound after Andreas Pereira's short-range free-kick rattled the woodwork.

Normal service was resumed in the second half as Brentford netted twice to seal the three points. First, the impressive Toney converted a penalty after Issa Diop was penalised for flailing a leg in the box. Mathias Jensen then latched onto substitute Kevin Schade's cutback to put the game to bed, with Carlos Vinicius' poacher's effort in the final moments of second-half stoppage time providing little consolation to the travelling Fulham fans - most of whom had already filed out of the exits.

THE MVP: Off-field uncertainty continues to shroud him, but on the pitch it was business as usual for Toney tonight. This was your typical performance by the Bees' No.17. He held the ball up expertly all night, never gave Fulham's centre-backs a moment's rest and, of course, converted coolly from 12 yards - maintaining his record of netting each of his 22 penalties for the west Londoners. There was even a bit of trademark sh*thousery thrown in, as he mimicked Aleksandar Mitrovic's celebration after he netted the winner.

THE BIG LOSER: Let it be known that Sasa Lukic is not Joao Palhinha. The Serbian has barely featured in the Premier League since his January switch from Torino, but was thrown in from the start here thanks to Fulham's midfield stalwart being suspended. Though understandable, the downgrade in quality was pretty dramatic, and in truth Lukic should have been sent off just before the break for a second bookable offence. He survived, though, and will likely start against Arsenal next week - where a stark improvement is required.

MATCH IN THREE PHOTOS:

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Getty Images

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WHAT NEXT? Brentford travel to struggling Everton on Saturday, while Fulham could dent Arsenal's Premier League title hopes by beating them at Craven Cottage the day after.

MATCH RATING (OUT OF FIVE): ⭐⭐⭐