Brighton 1-1 Fulham: João Palhinha rescues point after Evan Ferguson nets his fifth goal of the season

With the Seagulls in high spirits following Thursday’s victory against a struggling Ajax in the UEFA Europa League, Roberto de Zerbi’s side would welcome Fulham to the American Express Stadium on Sunday.

BHA: Steele; Igor, Dunk, Webster; Mitoma, Dahoud, Baleba, Adingra; Lallana, Groß; Ferguson

FUL: Leno; Robinson, Ream, Bassey, Castagne; Palhinha, Reed; Willian, Iwobi, Decordova-Reid; Jiménez

Evan Ferguson ensured Brighton took a one-goal lead into the interval on the South Coast, with Pascal Groß feeding a fine pass into the Irishman’s feet to allow him to dispatch an effort past Bernd Leno from the edge of the penalty area.

Fulham were perhaps lucky to just be trailing by the solitary goal, with Simon Adingra, Kaoru Mitoma and Carlos Balbena all looking to find the back of the net throughout the first half – and the pressure would continue after the break, with Lewis Dunk seeing his free-kick strike the woodwork.

But just after the hour mark, João Palhinha netted an important equaliser against the run of play, capitalising on a sloppy dispossession that allowed Harry Wilson to pick out the Portuguese powerhouse in midfield.

Ansu Fati would look to replicate his heroics against Ajax as the game wore on, but fierce goalkeeping from Bernd Leno ensured that the Cottagers would hold on for a point.

Despite remaining seventh in the Premier League standings, Roberto de Zerbi will likely be disappointed to see his side drop points in a game that they dominated – and he’ll hope for an improved performance as they travel to Goodison Park next weekend.

Fulham still sit inside the bottom half of the table, occupying 14th spot after capitalising on a mistake to rescue a point against the run of play. They’ll travel to Ipswich Town’s Portman Road in midweek to dispute a Carabao Cup tie.