SAMUEL Chukwueze marked his return from the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Morocco with a fine goal today as Fulham defeated Brighton 2-1 in an English Premier League clash at Craven Cottage.
The Super Eagles of Nigeria forward came off the bench to get Fulham level, taking his tally in his last six Premier League appearances to three goals and three assists, before Harry Wilson struck a stunning late winner.
Chukwueze’s Super Eagles teammate Alex Iwobi was on from the start while Calvin Bassey, who was named in the AFCON Team of the Tournament, was an unused substitute.
Yasin Ayari produced a moment of magic to put the visitors in front in the first half.
Fulham were in the ascendancy when Ayari picked up possession on the left and cut inside before unleashing a venomous strike from the edge of the box past the diving Bernd Leno in the 28th minute.
The Seagulls almost doubled their lead two minutes later when Leno kept out Kaoru Mitoma’s initial effort before Ferdi Kadioglu’s header on the rebound was cleared off the line by Timothy Castagne.
The game opened up in the early stages of the second half and Fulham drew level through Chukwueze, who latched on to a long ball from Joachim Andersen and slotted past goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen to restore parity.
Brighton thought they had regained the lead a couple of minutes later only for Danny Welbeck’s effort to be ruled out by the video assistant referee for offside before the striker also had a header tipped over the bar.
However, it was the hosts who found the decisive goal in the stoppage time as Wilson beat Verbruggen from 25 yards with a free-kick awarded for a foul by Charalampos Kostoulas on Josh King.
Fulham climb to seventh in the Premier League table with 34 points while Brighton are four points behind in 12th.
At the Etihad Stadium, Omar Marmoush scored his first Premier League goal of the season to help Manchester City return to winning ways by easing past bottom side Wolves 2-0.
Pep Guardiola’s side had suffered a miserable start to 2026 by not winning any of their four league games, and the Spaniard decided to give star striker Erling Haaland and midfielder Phil Foden a rest by dropping them to the bench.
The duo came on in the second half by which time their team-mates had already made a positive impact to put City back on track in the top-flight.
Both sides set their stalls out early on, with visitors Wolves opting to sit back with a five-man defence, but City exerted their dominance by carving them open at will inside the first 10 minutes.
Debutant Marc Guehi almost made a dream start in a City shirt but his header at the back post was straight into the grasp of goalkeeper Jose Sa inside the first five minutes.
City grabbed the lead a minute later when Marmoush stabbed home Matheus Nunes’ whipped cross, before Semenyo latched on to a ball over the top but his first-time strike was bundled away by Sa.
The hosts doubled their lead on the stroke of half-time to effectively seal the points when Bernardo Silva fizzed a pass into the feet of Semenyo, who converted a cool finish from the edge of the area – and he also rattled the crossbar in the second half.
Yerson Mosquera’s flicked header clipped the crossbar for Wolves late on, but Rob Edwards’ side have now won just once all season and lie 14 points adrift of safety.
Super Eagles striker Tolu Arokodare was a substitute for Wolves, playing the last 20 minutes as the bottom side sought to fight back.
With agency reports