Whites crash down to earth

With just six minutes on the clock and Fulham already a goal up, Papa Bouba Diop - the 6ft 4ins midfielder from Senegal - unceremoniously launched Ivan Campo into orbit with a brute of a tackle. It was hard and it was fair and, when the big Spaniard finally landed in a heap in the centre circle, the bewildered look on his face said it all.

Wanderers had been brought down to earth with a bang.

Just seven days after giving Charlton the runaround with one of their most comprehensive victories in top flight football, Sam Allardyce's Super Whites were given a taste of their own medicine.

Where they had been dominant, they were humbled; where they had outfought, outrun and outclassed their opponents, they suddenly discovered what life is like when you are second best in every aspect of the game. And they had no answer.

This was a painful reality check.

Allardyce had said his biggest task after the first day flyer would be to keep everyone's feet on the ground ... but he had not banked on Fulham giving him such an emphatic helping hand.

The contrast in performance could not have been greater. Players who earned the highest praise for their scintillating start, walked off the field with their heads bowed; the qualities that raised the bar of expectation even higher than pre-season levels, were suddenly and inexplicably absent and the manager, quite understandably, was a worried man as he sped off along Fulham Palace Road.

Andy Cole - for so long a problem for Graeme Souness at Blackburn - marked his home debut striking twice to chalk up a double century of league goals but the scoreline could have been even more embarrassing but for a handful of squandered chances and some outstanding goalkeeping by Jussi Jaaskelainen.

"It's very worrying at this stage of the season to have such inconsistency in performances," Allardyce said.

"Most of the time we were second best, unfortunately, and the Fulham players were up and at it more than we were. It was a complete reversal - we looked like Charlton looked against us."

Not quite as woeful. For, until former Wanderer Claus Jensen worked the move that put Cole in for his second goal eight minutes from time - assisted by some wretched defending, it must be said - there was always the hope that someone might come up with something special to salvage a point.

It would not have been deserved but it has happened before.

Yet they just could not get in striking distance of Edwin Van der Sar's goal. The lanky Dutchman made a couple of untidy saves - from Jay-Jay Okocha in the first minute then from Kevin Nolan in the 67th - and escaped penalty appeals when, as Allardyce put it so succinctly, he "mugged" Henrik Pedersen. But anything other than a Fulham victory would have been a travesty.

"We didn't deserve anything and we didn't get anything," Nolan admitted. "This was a real kick up the backside for us."

Why did it happen? Allardyce made the point that his preparations were hampered by seven of his squad being away on international duty and, when they did get back, the Friday training session he uses to hone his match strategy had been virtually washed out by the weather.

He complained bitterly and with some justification that Rob Styles got it badly wrong when he waved away those 19th minute penalty appeals after Van der Sar had bulldozed Pedersen to the ground. But he offered no excuses.

Wanderers have never beaten Fulham in the Premiership and they never looked like getting anything out of this, their 2,500th game in the top division of English football, not with Diop leading the mission to prevent Okocha imposing his authority - an example other teams will surely follow.

After giving Van der Sar a first minute wake up call - spectators were still chuckling at Mohamed Al Fayad's embarrassing pre-match antics - Okocha was hounded and harassed and, try as he might, he struggled, mainly for lack of support.

Fulham responded to that early scare with Cole doing well to tee up Sylvain Legwinski whose shot cannoned back off the post and set the scene for a series of attacks that made Bruno N'Gotty and Julio Cesar - an impressive centre-back pairing a week earlier - look like total strangers.

Cole got lucky when he managed to turn Zat Knight's shot, which had already taken a deflection off Nicky Hunt, past a wrong-footed Jaaskelainen to put Fulham ahead after just five minutes. But, in the end, Wanderers were fortunate not to get a more severe beating.

They would have been three down by half time if Collins John's finish had matched the quality of the pass from Diop, and Cole - a notorious squanderer of chances - had not hit the post after taking the ball around Jaaskelainen and almost punishing Campo for the most reckless of back passes.

The Spaniard was a pale shadow of the figure so dominant at the heart of the midfield trio that was so effective against Charlton and had the ignominy of being hauled off just 10 minutes into the second half.

Okocha and Gary Speed went the distance, working hard to try to prompt a response against a Fulham side that finished ninth last season and looks better than ever with the creative talents of Jensen and the power of the Vieira-like Diop in midfield. But try as he did - Fernando Hierro in the Campo role with Ricardo Gardner and Stelios joining Kevin Davies on the front line - Allardyce could not give Wanderers that extra yard of pace and those extra ounces of commitment and determination that had proved so effective a week earlier.

Chris Coleman, who has given Fulham the steel that was so obviously lacking in Jean Tigana's flair days, would have celebrated a much bigger win had Jaaskelainen not pulled off three excellent saves - the best when he went full-length to palm away a 35-yarder from Moritz Volz.

He may have been anxious with such a slender lead after such a dominant display but he did not show it. He knew he had cancelled out the threat from Okocha and prevented Wanderers providing Davies with anything like the quality service that makes him such an effective spearhead.

Allardyce's only hope was that his defence would ride their luck, keep it at 1-0 and that Fulham might slip up at the back. But Knight and Alain Goma had not been seriously tested and were not going to leave the back door open.

It was Wanderers who slipped up in the end. N'Gotty stood off and Cesar - for all his talent and experience of European football - was caught out for the umpteenth time when Jensen turned away from Okocha and stroked in a gem of a pass for Cole to beat the helpless Jaaskelainen.

"There was always a chance Fulham would get a bit edgy and make a mistake we could capitalise on," said a dejected Allardyce. "But I have to say our defending for the second goal was absolutely horrendous.

"Seeing the two central defenders doing things like that will make me grey very quickly."

FULHAM 2 WANDERERS 0

WANDERERS 4-3-3

JUSSI JAASKELAINEN ... 8

Kept Wanderers in the game with some impressive saves - the best at full stretch to keep out a Volz long-ranger.

NICKY HUNT ... 7

The only outfield player to improve on last week's performance, the youngster looked much better defensively.

JULIO CESAR ... 5

Chalk and cheese in the space of a week, the Brazilian now knows how tough life can be in the Premiership.

BRUNO N'GOTTY ... 5

By nature, he's a cool customer but he will be enraged when he reflects on the number of chances Fulham created.

RICARDO GARDNER ... 6

Thrown forward for the last half hour to give the attack more width and pace but to no avail.

JAY-JAY OKOCHA ... 6

Fulham did a job on the skipper and, for all he tried, he just could not impose himself on the game.

IVAN CAMPO ... 5

His careless backpass that gifted Cole a first half chance summed up his afternoon; not the Campo we have come to expect.

GARY SPEED ... 6

Ten out of ten for effort but, like the rest of his team-mates, he was unable to impose himself against the team he might have joined.

KEVIN NOLAN ... 6

Came closer than anyone to claiming a second half equaliser, forcing Van der Sar to make an untidy save.

KEVIN DAVIES ... 6

Starved of decent service, he tried all he could to unsettle Knight and Goma but could make no impression.

HENRIK PEDERSEN ... 5

Seemed to be hampered by an injury; struggling for his usual pace and power, he lasted just 51 minutes.

Subs: Stelios (5) for Pedersen 51 mins, Anthony Barness (6) for Campo 55 mins, Fernando Hierro for Gardner 75 mins. Not used: Tal Ben Haim, Kevin Poole.

FULHAM 4-3-3

EDWIN VAN DER SAR ... 6

MORITZ VOLZ ... 7

ZAT KNIGHT ... 8

ALAIN GOMA ... 7

CARLOS BOCANEGRA ... 7

SYLVAIN LEGWINSKI ... 7

PAPA BOUBA DIOP ... 9

CLAUS JENSEN ... 8

COLLINS JOHN ... 7

ANDREW COLE ... 8

TOMASZ RADZINSKI ... 6

Subs: Luis Boa Morte (6) for John 65 mins, Bran McBride (5) for Radzinski 69 mins, Mark Pembridge for Jensen 84 mins. Not used: Ian Pearce, Mark Crossley.

REFEREE:

Rob Styles (Waterlooville, Hants).

ATTENDANCE:

17,541.

GOALS:

Fulham - Cole 5 mins & 82 mins.

SHOTS/HEADERS ON TARGET:

Fulham 6, Wanderers 3.

CORNERS:

Fulham 8, Wanderers 4.

OFFSIDES:

Fulham 3, Wanderers 2.

FOULS COMMITTED:

Fulham 12, Wanderers 12.

MAN OF THE MATCH

PAPA BOUBA DIOP

JENSEN supplied the craft and Cole the finishing touches but the powerful midfielder from Senegal - Vieira-like in so many ways - was the pivotal figure, giving Fulham the steel in midfield that was the foundation for their convincing victory.

MAGIC MOMENT

MORITZ Volz's powerful 35-yard shot was heading right for the top corner and a goal all the way until Jaaskelainen launched himself to his right, stretching every sinew and managing to palm the ball round the post - a super shot denied by a great save.

MOAN OF THE MATCH

THEY might have been clutching at straws but Wanderers had cause to complain when Van der Sar bulldozed Pedersen to the ground and referee Rob Styles said "No penalty!" It wasn't deserved but it could have been the lucky break they needed.

KICK BY KICK

1 min: Okocha fires the first warning shot with a long-ranger that puts Van Der Sar on notice.

2 mins: Fulham respond well with Cole teeing up Legwinski for a shot that cannons off Jaaskelainen's right post.

3 mins: Jaaskelainen gets down well to smother a Jensen free kick as Fulham keep the pressure on.

GOAL!

5 mins: Wanderers pay the penalty for failing to clear a Jensen corner; Knight's shot deflects off Hunt and Cole gets the final touch past a wrong-footed Jaaskelainen.

14 mins: Davies knocks Hunt's deep cross into Nolan's path but the ball drops awkwardly and Goma gets in an important challenge.

19 mins: Referee Styles turns down penalty appeals as Van Der Sar flattens Pedersen in a challenge for Okocha's high cross.

29 mins: Campo's right-footer flashes a yard wide.

37 mins: Lucky escape No 1 - John beats Cesar's challenge and looks certain to score but his shot rolls past the far post.

38 mins: Lucky escape No 2 - Cole latches onto Campo's suicidal backpass and rounds Jaaskelainen, only to hit his angled shot against the outside of the post.

Half-time: Fulham 1 Wanderers 0

67 mins: Nolan shows terrific technique, hitting a volley that forces Van Der Sar to make an untidy save.

70 mins: Diop wastes a golden opportunity, slicing his shot wide after Cole had worked wonders to get around Cesar and deliver an inviting cross.

71 mins: Cole fires over, having been first to react to a high bouncing ball on the edge of the box.

74 mins: Jaaskelainen pulls off a sensational save, launching himself to get his right hand to a Volz 35-yard shot that is heading for the top corner.

80 mins: It is Jaaskelainen to the rescue again, saving from Boa Morte at the near post after the returning Olympian had turned Cesar.

GOAL!

82 mins: Jensen shows the creativity that made him a Reebok favourite, turning away from Okocha and delivering a pass behind Cesar for Cole to finish with a low shot past Jaaskelainen.

90 mins: Speed goes full stretch to reach a Davies header but he cannot turn his volley on target.

Full-time: Fulham 2 Wanderers 0