Wolves came into this round yet to keep a Premier League clean sheet, and it took less than nine minutes to extend their wait, as Santiago Bueno committed himself to cutting out a ball through the middle, but succeeded only in presenting it to Raul Jimenez, who set Ryan Seessegnon racing through, and he got the better of Sam Johnstone to net the opener.
Fulham continued to look dangerous coming forward, but a pair of Harry Wilson efforts skewed wide was the closest they came to doubling their advantage in the first half.
Things got worse for Wolves in the final 10 minutes, when Josh King chased a ball over the top and was brought down by a clumsy Emmanuel Agbadou challenge.
Referee John Brooks deemed it to be a denial of a clear goalscoring opportunity and produced a red card for the Ivorian.
A tame Jean-Ricner Bellegarde shot with the match still goalless was the closest Wolves came to scoring until the last action of the half, when Jorgen Strand Larsen rose highest to power a header straight at Bernd Leno.
Having conceded the majority of their goals after the break this term, Marco Silva’s men were keen to give themselves breathing space, which Kenny Tete tried to achieve seven minutes after the restart with a fierce strike from range, but Johnstone was equal to it.
Tete knew little about the next time he forced the Wolves stopper into action when deflecting the ball goalwards following a corner, but Johnstone could do nothing about The Cottagers’ next chance just after the hour mark.
Sander Berge’s strike from the edge of the box was well blocked, but following up was Wilson, and this time he found the target, sweeping the ball into the bottom corner with a clean first-time strike.
A first three points for the hosts since 20th September were sealed 15 minutes from time, when a swift counter-attack on the left resulted in Sessegnon squaring the ball across goal, which Yerson Mosquera diverted into his own net.
Samuel Chukwueze slammed the ball against the post late on, as Fulham cruised to a first win in six versus sides starting the day in the bottom three, while Vítor Pereira’s men are now 14 league games without a win going back to last season.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Ryan Sessegnon (Fulham)
