2020 EFL Championship play-off final

Fulham had last taken part in a play-off final when they beat Aston Villa in the 2018 final and spent one season in the Premier League before being relegated.[9][10] Brentford had failed to win in three play-off final attempts: they lost the 1997 Football League Second Division play-off final 1–0 against Crewe Alexandra, were defeated 2–0 in the 2002 Football League Second Division play-off final by Stoke City, and lost to Yeovil Town in the 2013 Football League One play-off final 2–1. They had also lost in five play-off semi-finals.[11] Brentford had not played in the top flight of English football for 73 years, having been relegated to the second tier in their 1946–47 season.[12][13] Fulham lost both West London derbies played between the clubs during the regular season, suffering a 1–0 defeat at Griffin Park in December 2019, and losing 2–0 at Craven Cottage the following June.[3] Brentford's Watkins and Fulham's Mitrović tied for the distinction as Championship top scorers with 26 goals each.[14] According to bookmakers, Brentford went into the final as favourites.[15][16] The match was broadcast live in the UK on Sky Sports Football, Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Ultra HD.[17]

The referee for the match was Martin Atkinson, with assistants Lee Betts and Constantine Hatzidakis. Peter Banks acted as the fourth official.[18] It was reported by Deloitte that the game was worth around £160 million to Brentford should they win, or £135 million to Fulham if they were victorious.[12] Brentford made just one change to the starting eleven which beat Swansea in the second leg of the play-off semi-final, with Josh Dasilva replacing Marcondes in midfield, the latter being named as a substitute.[12] Denis Odoi and Aboubakar Kamara came in for Cyrus Christie and Anthony Knockaert in Fulham's starting line-up, and Mitrović was selected on the bench.[12] Faryl Smith sang the national anthem from outside the stadium before the match.[11]

After the teams had taken a knee in honour of the Black Lives Matter movement, Fulham kicked off the match behind closed doors. After two minutes, a Brentford free kick enabled Henrik Dalsgaard to shoot but his strike was blocked. Three minutes later, a Fulham break saw Decordova-Reid pass to Onomah whose low shot was saved by David Raya in the Brentford goal. On seven minutes, Michael Hector fouled Saïd Benrahma on the edge of the Fulham penalty area, but the resulting free kick was eventually gathered by Marek Rodák. In the 14th minute, a cross from Kebano was deflected out for a corner which was cleared by Pontus Jansson. Four minutes later, Raya made a one-handed save to deny Onomah from opening the scoring for Fulham. On 20 minutes, Decordova-Reid's shot was deflected out for a corner, and six minutes later the game was paused for a drinks break. In the 29th minute, Harrison Reed was shown the first yellow card of the game after a foul on Christian Nørgaard.[19] Odoi's 41st minute shot was blocked before Raya caught a Fulham cross three minutes later, and the half ended goalless.[20]

No changes to either side were made during the interval and Brentford kicked the second half off. A minute in, Brentford's Henry pulled down Decordova-Reid, conceding a free kick which Kebano struck into the side netting.[20] In the 53rd minute, Benrahma made a run into the penalty area and his cross was blocked, with appeals for a free kick denied. Brentford then began to exert some pressure with chances falling to Mathias Jensen and Mbeumo but without scoring. In the 58th minute, Decordova-Reid's shot went outside of the right-hand post of Brentford's goal. Two minutes later, Mbeumo was replaced by Marcondes in the first substitution of the game. Midway through the second half, a long ball from Fulham's Jensen was headed behind by Odoi, and Ethan Pinnock's header from the ensuing corner was cleared behind by Joe Bryan. From the set piece, Cairney became the second player to be booked, after a foul on Benrahma. Marcondes' strike from the free kick went high over the bar, and the second half drinks break was taken shortly after. In the 70th minute, Watkins received a pass from Jensen and struck a shot from the edge of the box toward the top corner which was tipped over by Rodák.[21] Fulham made their first substitution of the game in the 81st minute with Knockaert coming on to replace Kebano. Dalsgaard's shot in the 83rd minute went over the Fulham crossbar and a minute later, Brentford made their second change, with Sergi Canós replacing Dasilva. Onomah then struck a shot over the Brentford bar before Jensen was shown a yellow card for a foul on Knockaert. In the final minute of regular time, Benrahma's free kick was off-target and in injury time, Mitrović came on to replace Decordova-Reid for Fulham as the game went into extra time having ended goalless.[22]

Joe Bryan (pictured in 2017) scored both of Fulham's in extra time.

No changes were made to either side between the end of regular time and the start of extra time. Two minutes into the first half, Canós crossed for Watkins whose shot went wide of the Fulham post. On four minutes, Kamara's shot from distance was comfortably saved by Raya in the Brentford goal. In the sixth minute, Henry's cross was struck by Jansen but deflected away.[22] Hector then became the third Fulham player to be booked after a foul on Nørgaard and four minutes later Knockaert was shown the yellow card after he bought Henry down. A minute before half-time, Nørgaard was booked for a foul and Mitrović received a yellow card for a foul on Marcondes. In the last minute of the first half of extra time, the deadlock was broken: Bryan saw the Brentford goalkeeper Raya was off his goal-line so struck a 40-yard (37 m) free kick over him into the net, and the half ended 1–0 to Fulham. During the half-time period, Halil Dervişoğlu and Tariqe Fosu came on for Brentford, replacing Jensen and Henry, while Fulham's Ivan Cavaleiro was brought on in place of Kamara. Two minutes into the second period of extra time, Dervişoğlu's attempt to score from a Canós cross was saved by Rodák. With nine minutes of the second half remaining, further substitutions were made: Fulham's Christie and Maxime Le Marchand coming on to replace Onomah and Odoi. A foul by Fulham's Christie resulted in a Benrahma free kick which struck the defensive wall, followed by Nørgaard's cross being smothered by Rodák. In the 117th minute of the match, Pinnock's volley was caught by Rodák and two minutes later Bryan doubled his and Fulham's tally, scoring following a one-two with Mitrović. Brentford's Dalsgaard then headed Canós' cross over the Fulham bar.[23] Four minutes of injury time were indicated and two minutes in, Fulham's Cavaleiro was booked for a foul on Fosu before Dalsgaard scored for Brentford from a Nørgaard header from 8 yards (7.3 m) with less than a minute remaining; Rodák became the seventh Fulham player to be booked for subsequent time-wasting and the match ended 2–1 to Fulham, securing their promotion back to the Premier League on their first attempt.[24][25]