Marco Silva said Harry Wilson deserved his brace in second-half injury time after coming off the bench to help Fulham come from behind and secure a 2-1 victory over Brentford in the Premier League.
A superb goal from Vitaly Janelt looked set to give Thomas Frank’s side points against their west London opponents at Craven Cottage.
However, Wilson – who has not made a league start this season – scored his first goal in the second minute of added time from a cross from compatriot Adama Traore, creatively sending the ball over the goalkeeper Brentford Mark Flekken.
The Wales international then capped the comeback with a header from Antonee Robinson’s shot five minutes later.
Wilson’s double ended a three-match winless run for Silva’s men, and after the match the Portuguese told reporters: “It’s been a difficult season for him and Harry wants to play more, he doesn’t isn’t getting the minutes he wanted.
“It’s not easy to find space for everyone but he is on fire for the national team and in a Fulham shirt we knew he was capable.
“He has to wait and be patient and when he has a chance he has to take it, he had a good evening and that is the most important thing.
“I know him very well. I think he was my first signing at the club and he was important for us. I congratulated him and he deserves this moment.
Fulham managed 26 shots on the night as they looked to bounce back from Everton’s late equalizer against them last week.
Silva believes the latest result reflects his team’s performance, adding: “We deserved the three points, there’s no doubt about that. It summed up our season so far, we were dominant, we were the better team and we let’s create more.
“They had nothing until that moment (Janelt goal) from 25 yards and they scored, we didn’t lose confidence and we tried to push them back and had several ways to score.
“The result was unfair for a while, I told the players to keep pushing and I have to congratulate Brentford, they defended hard in their box.
“The reality is we haven’t given up. We put Harry Wilson in a different position and let him get close to Rodrigo (Muniz) and he has good timing in the box.
Brentford had sat for most of the game after taking the lead when Janelt’s belter went past Bernd Leno.
Thomas Frank admitted he was dealt a double whammy late on.
The Bees boss said: “It’s brutal, it’s the small margins and the better team won that day.
“When we lead 1-0 in the 92nd or 93rd minute, we haven’t scored the big chance.
“But the defense was incredible, the boys did everything, they threw everything at us and it was an incredible touch from Wilson, it’s a goal in 100 from that angle.
“We were aiming for victory, we could have won it but in the end we lost it.”