Brentford's first Premier League Summer Series game ended in a 3-2 defeat in Philadelphia against west London neighbours Fulham.

Yoane Wissa and Kristoffer Ajer netted the Bees' goals, but strikes from Harry Wilson, Bobby De Cordova-Reid and Carlos Vinicius were enough to secure the win for the Cottagers.

Brentford found themselves 1-0 down just three minutes into their first Summer Series game after Wilson's curling effort from the edge of the box nestled into the top corner, with Mark Flekken rooted to the spot on his first appearance for the club.

That seemed to spark the Bees into life with a well-worked move from Thomas Frank's side following Fulham's opener. Starting with Flekken, whose accurate distribution was on show throughout the contest, the ball was received by Vitaly Janelt, who clipped it into Rico Henry on the left side.

The left-back tried feeding the ball back to Keane Lewis-Potter inside the area, who had found himself in some space, but the Cottagers' defenders were quick to clear their lines for a corner. Lewis-Potter met the delivery but his header went over the bar.

After scoring the opening goal of the game, Wilson nearly doubled his tally for the afternoon, when a ball over the top from Joao Palhinha found its way into the path of the Welshman. He attempted to lob Flekken, who had come off his line to prevent the danger, but Wilson's effort was misjudged and cleared by Ben Mee.

The goalmouth action continued and, this time, there was a goal to show for it. A corner was won after a driving run from Henry when his cross was blocked and Lewis-Potter again won the initial contact from Mathias Jensen's set-piece.

Despite it looking like the former Hull City forward's flick-on was heading into the bottom corner, Wissa tapped it into the back of the net at the far post, just to be sure.

Brentford were inches away from turning the game around on the half-hour mark. After more good work from Lewis-Potter, who cut inside and played the ball out to the Cameroon international, Mbeumo was in a dangerous position on the edge of the box.

As Bees fans have seen him do so often, Mbeumo cut inside onto his left foot, but his effort was just wayward and came crashing back off the post.

Fulham took the lead again after 36 minutes, as De Cordova Reid found the bottom corner from just outside the area. His effort crept past Flekken, who looked to be obstructed by the Bees defenders who had rushed out to block the shot.

The Cottagers were dealt a blow before half-time, however, when their crucial defensive lynchpin Palhinha was replaced by Kevin Mbabu, after appearing to pick up an arm injury as he was defending the edge of his area.

Brentford had a chance at the beginning of the second half, when substitute Michael Olakigbe broke away down the right. His effort from a tight angle was stopped by Bernd Leno, who was also brought on at the break.

And, just a minute later, it was another fresh face who scored the opening goal of the half to put Fulham 3-1 ahead. After a ball over the top, Carlos Vinicius found himself one-on-one with David Raya, who had also just come on, before poking past the Spanish keeper.

And the substitutes kept making an impact when, moments later, Kristoffer Ajer pulled one back for the Bees. A driving run from Mikkel Damsgaard led to Henry playing the ball across the box, which the big Norweigan smashed first time beyond Leno.

Two chances for the Bees followed as they attempted to find an equaliser. Damsgaard and Henry picked the ball up in similar positions on the left, but they both dragged their shots wide of the far post.

The sides bought the west London rivalry to Philadelphia, when a coming together between Zanka and Harrison Reed led to both sets of players exchanging words towards the dugouts. A booking for the pair followed.

In a quiet second half, full of substitutions, which saw Bees boss Frank change his whole starting XI, there were to be late chances for both sides.

Firstly, Willian, who recently signed a new contract with Fulham, cut inside and took aim towards the far post. The fans inside the Lincoln Financial Field seemed convinced they would see the net ripple, but Raya made a superb stop to tip it around the post.

And, as Brentford looked for an equaliser, Nathan Collins, on his first appearance for the club after signing from Wolverhampton Wanderers, teamed up with centre-back partner Zanka inside the area. The Dane teed up the Irishman, whose shot was straight at Leno and comfortably saved.

The Bees head to Atlanta for their second Summer Series contest, where they take on Brighton and Hove Albion.

Brentford: Flekken (Raya 46); Roerslev (Ajer 47), Mee (Zanka 47), Pinnock (Collins 47), Henry (Bech 71); Jensen (Onyeka 46), Janelt (Yarmolyuk 71), Damsgaard (Pressley 71); Mbeumo (Olakigbe 46), Wissa (Baptiste 46), Lewis-Potter (Peart-Harris 71)

Fulham: Rodak (Leno 46); Tete (De Fougerolles 64), Diop, Palhinha (Mbabu 45), Robinson (Odutayo 83); Reed, Lukic (Dibley-Dias 83), Cairney (Harris 64); Wilson (Willian 64), Muniz (Vinicius 46), De Cordova-Reid (Stansfield 46)

Frank takes positives from Fulham defeat

Brentford boss Thomas Frank believes there were ‘a lot of positives’ to take from the Bees’ opening Summer Series clash. 

Despite the defeat, the head coach was particularly impressed with the offensive aspects of his side’s game, including their pressing in the final third.

“I think there were a lot of positives to take from the game," Frank began.

“I was very pleased with the way we looked when we went forward - we got two very good goals, we looked very dangerous, we created quite a few chances, and I think we created more than enough to get something out of this game. I’m very pleased.  

“Our build-up in phases one and two that we’ve been working on was better, a step forward, we still need to do it even better than we did today. And I liked our high pressure, that was good and aggressive. 

“The minor negative thing was that we conceded two goals - their second and third - that I would like to avoid.” 

Frank was also delighted to see so many Brentford fans in the stadium and is hoping that, by coming to America, there will be more Bees fans supporting the club moving forward. 

“It was really nice to see the red and white shirts out there, I was so pleased with that,” he added.  

“I know that some have travelled over here and some are American fans and that’s great. Hopefully, being over here, we're winning even more hearts and more fans.” 

Damsgaard: Summer Series opener a good step for getting in shape

Brentford midfielder Mikkel Damsgaard believes that the Bees’ first Premier League Summer Series game against Fulham was a ‘good step’.

The Dane played over an hour of the defeat against the Cottagers, where he showed his versatility and pressing abilities in the heat and humidity of America. 

“It’s been great to get out there and play a lot of minutes. I think the minutes we played today were very good," Damsgaard said.

“Of course, even though it's friendly, we would like to have got the win against them, but I think we took a good step towards getting in good shape.” 

He added: “It was very hot today - hotter than usual - but the way we want to play throughout the season means we have to be in very, very good shape, so hopefully the push today will make it even easier for next season.”