Fulham has made an immediate return to the English Premier League (EPL) as two extra-time goals from full-back Joe Bryan gave them a 2-1 win over Brentford on Tuesday.
The win was in the English Championship playoff final match at Wembley Stadium.
Bryan opened the scoring near the end of the first period of extra time.
He spotted Brentford goalkeeper David Raya out of position and anticipating a cross from his deep free-kick, he cleverly drove the ball into the bottom corner.
The Spanish goalkeeper was slow to react, once Bryan opted to shoot.
But the lead was a deserved one for Scott Parker’s side, who had the better of what had been a cagey 90 minutes.
Bryan made sure of the victory with a second goal three minutes from the end of the second period of extra time.
He clipped home from close range after a burst forward down the left and a quick exchange with substitute Aleksandar Mitrovic.
Henrik Dalsgaard pulled a goal back for Brentford in the final seconds.
But there was no time for a recovery by the Bees, who were searching for a place in the top flight for the first time since 1947.
“I’m not the hero,” said Bryan, as his teammates celebrated their swift return back to the Premier League a year after relegation.
It was an achievement worth around 135 million pounds (176.34 million dollars) over three years for the west London club.
“Every single one of the boys, players, staff, supporters, everything’s been with us all season. It’s been absolutely unbelievable.
“We’ve been written off, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10 times. I think I even read somewhere that we were supposed to be scared of them.
”But we took it to them and we scored twice, even though they made it hard for us,” added Bryan.