Marco Silva’s side started brightly and passed the ball about patiently in the search for an opener, leading to a couple of early chances for Harry Wilson and Saaa Lukic – but it was the Bees who struck first with a goal largely against the run of play.
Josh King played a blind ball across the edge of the box, which was intercepted by Mikkel Damsgaard, before the Dane unleashed a clinical right-footed finish past Bernd Leno.
Fulham were almost the architects of their own downfall again, and could have easily conceded a second when Kevin Schade latched onto a sloppy backpass, but the German was forced wide and could not find the target.
Undeterred, Fulham pressed forward and were unfortunate not to restore parity when Caoimhin Kelleher spilt Ryan Sessegnon’s ferocious effort into the path of Rodrigo Muniz, whose dinked attempt rose over the target.
But the Cottagers persevered and would completely turn the match on its head with two goals in the space of as many minutes.
Alex Iwobi equalised with a fine first-time finish following a game of pinball inside the box, before providing a delightful assist for Wilson to sweep home a wonderful left-footed finish.
Clearly on a high after an absorbing opening act, Silva’s side extended their lead a mere five minutes after the restart, when Sessegnon’s whipped left-footed delivery was diverted into his own net by the unfortunate Ethan Pinnock.
It looked like the game was over just shy of the hour mark, courtesy of Muniz’s ferocious strike, which flew past Kelleher, but VAR harshly overturned the goal for a foul on Nathan Collins.
By now, Keith Andrews’ side were running out of time to set up a grandstand finish, and club-record signing Dango Ouattara was not far away from halving the deficit when his left-footed shot was deflected over the bar.
But the hosts saw out the game with relative ease on a largely comfortable night by the Thames, duly moving them up to seventh in the table.
Tonight’s result also provides the Cottagers with some rare recent joy in a London derby, with it representing only a third win in their last eight games against sides from the capital.
Meanwhile, Brentford succumbed to back-to-back league defeats at Craven Cottage for the first time since January 1954, and sit 17th following three losses in their opening five league games.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Alex Iwobi (Fulham)