It was late heartbreak at Craven Cottage as substitute Harry Wilson’s brace consigned Brentford to a 2-1 defeat to Fulham in the Premier League.

Vitaly Janelt’s long-range strike separated the sides with 90 minutes on the clock, but Wilson scored twice in stoppage time to complete the turnaround for the hosts.

Thomas Frank opted for the same side that lined up against Ipswich Town.

Defender Kristoffer Ajer missed out with a foot injury, while former Fulham midfielder Fábio Carvalho was named among the substitutes.

It was the Whites who registered the first shot on target with two minutes on the clock, but Raúl Jiménez’s effort from the edge of the area was tame and comfortably held by Mark Flekken.

Flekken’s next involvement was not so routine. Reiss Nelson, having peeled in from the left flank and advanced into the penalty area, took aim for the near corner. The Dutchman dived low to his right to push the ball away and leapt quickly back to his feet to narrow the angle and save the forward’s second attempt on the follow-up.

Emile Smith Rowe then drifted wide to combine with Antonee Robinson and saw his side-footed shot from the left of the area blocked brilliantly by Nathan Collins.

Sander Berge pounced on a loose pass and sprayed the ball out to the lively Nelson on the left. The former Arsenal man slipped between Mads Roerslev and Mikkel Damsgaard and dragged wide of Flekken’s right post.

Despite Fulham’s early pressure, it was Brentford who took the lead in the west London derby.

Calvin Bassey’s loose pass led to a spell of Bees possession midway inside the Whites’ half. Christian Nørgaard worked the ball to Janelt, who took a touch to set himself before arrowing the ball beyond Bernd Leno and into the far corner from 25 yards.

Fulham, met by Brentford’s well-organised low block, were struggling to convert possession into chances as they went in search of an equaliser.

On 43 minutes, Smith Rowe connected with Alex Iwobi’s cross from the left and saw his header beaten away by Flekken. Nelson looked to latch on to the loose ball inside the box, but the Brentford keeper got there first.

At the other end, in the final action of the half, Janelt was teed up by Keane Lewis-Potter and his first-time effort took a slight deflection off Berge’s outstretched leg on its way wide of the post.

Four minutes after the restart, Nelson held off Nørgaard and played a short pass to Iwobi, who drove just wide of Flekken’s right post from 20 yards.

Collins then made a perfectly timed sliding challenge to rob the ball from Jiménez after another penetrating run and pass from Nelson.

Just before the hour mark, Nørgaard hooked the ball over to Lewis-Potter on the left. Closed down by Robinson, the former Hull man dropped a shoulder to work some space for a shot, but his curling effort cleared the crossbar and landed among the Bees fans behind Leno’s goal.

On 66 minutes, after Sepp van den Berg had headed away Nelson’s cross, Kenny Tete went for goal from distance, but Flekken was equal to his swerving shot. Iwobi then pulled the trigger from a similar range with the same outcome.

Bassey’s tame shot was also held by Flekken as Fulham dialled up the pressure.

It was one-way traffic by the end of the game, but time after time the hosts were met by a wall of green shirts.

On 89 minutes, Flekken parried Bassey’s low drive and then pounced on the loose ball under pressure from Rodrigo Muniz.

But Fulham weren’t to be denied. In the second minute of stoppage time, the Whites’ substitutes combined. Adama Traoré whipped in a cross from the right and Wilson’s deft flick looped over Flekken and into the far corner.

Frank’s side immediately looked to restore their lead. Carvalho peeled away from his marker to meet Mads Roerslev’s low cross from the right of the area, but his close-range effort was blocked by Leno’s trailing leg.

Yehor Yarmoliuk was first to the loose ball on the penalty spot, but his effort deflected over the crossbar.

Then came another cruel twist. In the seventh minute of stoppage time, Robinson clipped the ball in from the left and Wilson headed beyond Flekken to consign Brentford to the cruellest of defeats at Craven Cottage.

Fulham: Leno; Tete (Castagne 73), Andersen, Bassey, Robinson; Berge, Pereira (Adama 65); Nelson (Wilson 82), Smith Rowe (Cairney 82), Iwobi; Jiménez (Muniz 73)

Subs not used: Benda, Diop, Sessegnon, Reed

Brentford: Flekken; Roerslev, Collins, Pinnock, van den Berg; Janelt (Yarmoliuk 90+3), Nørgaard, Damsgaard (Jensen 72); Mbeumo (Mee 86), Wissa (Schade 72), Lewis-Potter (Carvalho 72)

Subs not used: Valdimarsson, Meghoma, Konak, Maghoma

Attendance: 24,931

Frank: I felt empty after late goal

Brentford head coach Thomas Frank discussed the Bees’ 2-1 defeat to Fulham.

“I don’t think we hit our highest level today, but it’s very difficult to play 38 perfect games, especially in the Premier League,” he said.

“So if you can’t hit your highest level, you need to work hard and show character, which I think we did throughout the game.

“In the second half, we defended too much. We weren’t good enough on the ball and we didn’t get out - but we defended fantastically, they needed a bit of magic to break us down.

“We showed character to go for the 2-1 goal, we’re this close to scoring, and then they go down the other end and score themselves.

“And you just feel empty in that moment.”

Janelt: We need to stick together in these situations

After a difficult evening at Craven Cottage, goalscorer Vitaly Janelt insisted that he and his team-mates need to stick together, before looking ahead to Saturday's game at Gtech Community Stadium.

"It's tough. In the 90th minute you're 1-0 up, I scored the goal, I was happy with that, and then hopefully you go on to get the three points.

"But this is football, we need to stick together in these situations.

"On Saturday, we've got a good opportunity to bounce back from this at home in front of our own fans, so we need to look ahead to that."