Wolverhampton Wanderers 2 Fulham 1

Last updated : 20 September 2009 By Footymad Previewer
Kevin Doyle set up a day of firsts at Molineux as he helped fire Wolves to victory against an out-of-sorts Fulham.

Doyle's 18th-minute opener was his first goal for Wolves following his £6.5million move from Reading in July.

The victory was Wolves' first at home in the Premier League this season.

It was also a personal milestone for Wolves' manager Mick McCarthy.

He finally got a Premier League home win as a manager under his belt at the 22nd attempt after drawing a blank in 19 games at Sunderland and in the opening two home matches of the season at Wolves.

After Doyle had put Wolves in control, David Edwards ultimately set the seal on the impressive success by finishing off a neat 50th minute move with his first goal of the season.

But Wolves still had to work hard for their win as Fulham, who made 10 changes to the side that started the 1-1 draw at CSKA Sofia in the Europa League on Thursday to recall their key men, ironically decided to come to life after falling two behind.

Danny Murphy gave them hope with a 65th minute penalty, but Roy Hodgson's side couldn't find an equaliser as they slipped to their third defeat of the season and their second on the road.

Wolves were in control as soon as Doyle nodded them into the lead.

He was left unmarked after Christophe Berra headed on a throw-in from Greg Halford and Doyle turned the ball home from four yards past a stranded Mark Schwarzer.

Fulham struggled to mount any kind of comeback as they went in search of an equaliser and the closest they got before half-time was in the 32nd minute when Bobby Zamora saw his close-range drive deflected wide for a corner.

Their fate was then effectively sealed by the lively Edwards, who started and finished the move that led to his first Premier League goal.

Edwards released Andy Keogh and then raced into the area to collect a return pass from the Irishman before firing beyond Schwarzer from 12 yards for a goal that looked to have ended the challenge of Fulham.

If Wolves thought that, however, it was a mistake as Dickson Etuhu forced goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey into his first save of the game with a stinging 25-yard drive before Murphy handed them their lifeline.

Referee Kevin Friend had no hesitation in pointing to the spot after Michael Mancienne had hauled down Zamora and Murphy calmly converted from the spot.

Wolves then survived a major scare when their appeals for offside from a free-kick went unheeded and after the ball had bounced off Zamora, substitute Diomansy Kamara saw his effort cleared by the back-pedalling George Elokobi.