Relegation-threatened Fulham came from 2-0 down at half-time to beat Brighton 4-2 at Craven Cottage on Tuesday.
Claudio Ranieri said this was a must-win game for Fulham and must have feared the worst when Brighton’s Glenn Murray struck twice in the opening 17 minutes.
But unanswered second-half goals from Calum Chambers, two for Aleksandar Mitrovic and Luciano Vietto completely changed the game and secured the points for Fulham.
The first Brighton goal arrived when Martin Montoya was allowed to bring the ball forward from full-back, resulting in a dangerous cross into the box which Murray flicked into the far bottom corner.
The lead was doubled when Fulham cleared a cross only as far as Pascal Gross who produced an overhead kick straight into the path of Murray, allowing the striker to jab the ball home.
Fulham were disappointed that Dale Stephens only saw yellow following a studs up challenge on Andre Schurrle but the referee showed leniency.
The hosts took until the 32 minutes to threaten the goal when Ryan Babel exchanged passes with Mitrovic and fired in a shot from 25 yards but Mat Ryan dived to his right to palm the shot wide.
Team news
Fulham kept the same XI which was defeated by Spurs in their last fixture.There was just one change for Brighton as Mat Ryan returned in goal following his time playing at the Asian Cup.
It fell to Chambers to finally bring Fulham back into the game through a 25-yard volley two minutes after half-time after Shane Duffy headed a long ball straight into his path.
Babel hit a high cross into the box which Brighton failed to deal with as the ball bounced, allowing Mitrovic to beat the flatfooted Ryan and Duffy to head home from six yards for the equaliser.
Mitrovic completed the turnaround when he rose above Lewis Dunk to head a Joe Bryan cross down and into the corner to sends the fans wild.
Vietto was one of the players to make the difference off the bench and he got his reward after fellow substitute Tom Cairney’s shot hit the crossbar, the rebound landed at Babel’s feet and his mishit shot fell to the Argentine who volleyed home.
Man of the Match: Aleksandar Mitrovic
The striker led by example for Fulham, even in the first half he was relentless with his chasing down of the opposition and got his rewards after the break with two fine finishes.
Mitrovic was tenacious throughout, driving his team forward and giving a real focal point to an attack which needed to prove itself.
What’s next?
Fulham travel to Selhurst Park to face Crystal Palace on Saturday at 3pm.
Brighton return to the Amex where they will host Watford at the same time.
