Last updated on January 26th, 2026 at 06:15 am
Fulham and Brighton were 11th and 12th in the Premier League table as the weekend began, but with all teams struggling to progress, qualification into the European league is not totally lost on either side.
Brighton last made a continental campaign in the Europa League in 2023–24, which was their only one, while Fulham participated in the European tournament in 2011–12, adding an extra edge to the game.
The controversial 2-1 victory by Fulham against Fabian Hurzeler’s side, Brighton, which is campaigning to be a part of the European tournament, seems more painful.
The Seagulls took possession of the game from the moment the starting whistle was blown, and their effort was rewarded when Yasin Ayari’s goal gave the team a first-half lead.
The team almost doubled their lead as Timothy Castagne made goal-line clearances to deny efforts by Ferdi Kadioglu and Pascal Gross.
As the second half commenced, another threat came from Lewis Dunk and Danny Welbeck, but Welbeck’s goal was disallowed by a VAR check for offside.
Brighton had a lot of attempts to end the game in their favor, but their wastefulness proved costly, as they were only able to successfully convert only one of their big four opportunities, but Fulham, which needed a win, fired twice to complete a comeback and went away with three points.
