Brentford edged a pulsating west London derby against Fulham to extend their unbeaten run in the Premier League to 12 games.
Ethan Pinnock and Manor Solomon traded goals at either end of the first half as the rivals went in level.
Ivan Toney restored the Bees’ advantage from the penalty spot early in the second half with Mathias Jensen making the game safe seven minutes from time.
Carlos Vinicius netted a late consolation for Marco Silva’s side but there would be no denying Brentford all three derby night points.
Damsgaard for Dasilva Brentford’s only change
Brentford made one change from their last Premier League game, a 1-1 draw with Crystal Palace 17 days ago; Mikkel Damsgaard replacing Josh Dasilva for his first league start since October.
Pontus Jansson and Frank Onyeka were also fit enough for a return to the bench following hamstring injuries.
Zanka and Keane Lewis-Potter dropped out of the squad.
Fulham’s influential midfielder Joao Palhinha began his two-game suspension after collecting 10 yellow cards, with January arrival Sasa Lukic stepping in for him.
Their other change saw the in-form Solomon replace Bobby Decordova-Reid.
Brentford: Raya; Hickey (Roerslev 89), Pinnock, Mee, Henry; Norgaard, Jensen, Damsgaard (Janelt 77); Mbeumo (Dasilva 89), Wissa (Schade 77), Toney
Subs not used: Cox, Onyeka, Jansson, Ajer, Baptiste
Fulham: Leno; Tete (Soares 83), Diop, Ream, Robinson; Reed, Lukic (Decordova-Reid 74); Solomon (Wilson 74), Pereira, Willian (Vinicius 83); Mitrovic
Subs not used: Rodak, Wickens, Adarabioyo, James, Harris
Attendance: 17,025
Solomon cancels out Pinnock’s opener
Roared on by the home faithful, Brentford flew out of the traps.
Fulham had no answer to the waves of early pressure. The only surprise was that it took six minutes for the opener to come.
By then, Toney and Bryan Mbuemo had been denied by Bernd Leno - Toney from distance and Mbeumo at close-range - either side of a gilt-edged chance which Mbeumo put wide at the back post before the goal came.
The goal eventually came when a corner was cleared out to Aaron Hickey on the edge of the box. Having worked a shooting chance, his mis-hit effort landed perfectly at the feet of Pinnock who turned and fired home from 15 yards, with the aid of a deflection.
Fulham were on the ropes and Frank’s side sensed it. Damsgaard’s defence-splitting pass was just out of the range of the on-rushing Wissa, while Mbeumo was frustrated for a third time when his curling free-kick glanced the post and flew behind.
All that action came in the opening 17 minutes with Fulham able to steady the ship after that.
Andreas Pereira got on the ball and began to dictate play more, bringing Willian and Solomon into the game.
That being said, David Raya remained largely untroubled with Ben Mee and Pinnock dealing with everything in front of him. And when the Bees did clear their lines, Toney led the line expertly.
As half-time approached, the game swung on two free-kicks which hit the woodwork. While Toney’s glanced off the bar and behind, Pereira’s crashed back off the post and straight into the path of Solomon to head home an equaliser.
Fulham probably deserved scoreline parity based on possession and control of the game, but they should have lost numerical parity in first-half injury-time.
The previously booked Lukic cynically brought down Wissa as he led a counter attack, Anthony Taylor the only person in the stadium who didn’t believe the foul warranted a second yellow card.
Toney and Jensen on target during impressive second-half showing
As with the first, the second half began with Brentford well on top and again, they made it count.
There was an early Fulham scare when Pereira found himself between Mee and Pinnock in the area, but he got caught between attacking a looping cross with his head or foot and only succeeded in poking well wide.
It was a penalty which gave Brentford their second lead on the evening, awarded after Norgaard was caught by Issa Diop as the pair went for a bouncing ball following Jensen’s long throw.
As he had done on the previous 21 occasions when given the chance, Toney found the back of the net despite Leno guessing correctly.
The successful spot-kick means only Yaya Toure has now scored more Premier League penalties, without missing, than Toney in Premier League history.
With the lead restored, Brentford were comfortable for large parts of the second period.
Jensen and Damsgaard were efficient in possession, Norgaard the effective foil behind them, as Fulham continued to see more of the ball, but struggled to do much with it.
Much of the second half was played in the middle third but that suited Toney as he nearly added a third with an outrageous effort from all of 50 yards – Leno a relieved man as it looped over his head but landed on the roof of the net.
Frank introduced the pace of Kevin Schade with 15 minutes to play and he was heavily involved in what proved to be the decisive goal.
Receiving the ball on the right-hand angle of the box, with Antonee Robinson tight to him, Schade rolled the Fulham defender and accelerated away from him into the box. He spotted the unmarked Jensen and cut the ball back for the Dane to sweep home from close range, through the legs of Leno.
It was Jensen’s third goal in his last four home games and gave the Bees breathing space that it turned out they would need.
Eight minutes of stoppage-time was shown during which Raya made a fine save from Mitrovic at his near post, Mee cleared from under his own crossbar, and Harry Wilson dragged a shot wide.
When Raya comfortably claimed Reed’s bouncing effort it looked like the Bees had made it through to full-time with a two-goal advantage but there was still time for Fulham to grab a late consolation.
In the ninth minute of added time, Raya could only parry Pereira’s shot into the path of Carlos Vinicius who lifted the ball over him and in.
The goal brought muted celebrations from an almost empty away end, but the celebrations were much louder seconds later when Taylor put the whistle to lips to signal a fourth-straight home win for the Bees.
Frank: It was a clear and fair victory
Thomas Frank was pleased with his side's intensity during the victory over Fulham, and highlighted the performances of Mikkel Damsgaard, Ivan Toney and Kevin Schade.
Jensen hails 'massive' win
Mathias Jensen was delighted with Brentford's win, having capped another fantastic performance with a goal.