The curse of the international break strikes again for Fulham, so fluent a fortnight ago at Crystal Palace, who surrendered a winning position in the sort of fashion that will make Marco Silva seethe. A sumptuous strike from Alex Iwobi looked to have put the Whites en route to a third win in a row, but the Cottagers reckoned without Wolves’ renewed resolve and style. A raking pass from former Fulham midfielder Mario Lemina, deployed as a third centre back, set up an equaliser for the classy Matheus Cunha, who made a second superbly for Joao Gomes and curled in a majestic third. The visiting fans roared their approval as Gary O’Neil’s outfit added a fourth in added time through substitute Goncalo Guedes as their old gold heroes climbed out of the bottom three.

It was a catastrophic collapse for Fulham, who played the last twenty minutes with ten men after Joachim Andersen sustained a shin injury once Silva had sent on five substitutes. The hosts began by far the stronger side with former Wolves forward Raul Jimenez somehow struck the frame of goal from two yards out after Antonee Robinson had prodded a pinpoint ball across an open goal. The Craven Cottage faithful were still shaking their heads at that miss when Iwobi swept a sweet strike into Jose Sa’s top corner from twenty yards to give the Cottagers a merited lead.

Wolves went close when Cunha galloped into the penalty area only for Joao Gomes to try and measure a cross rather than go for goal himself, allowing Calvin Bassey to clear the danger. The hosts reprieve was short-lived when Lemina, a livewire on loan in the 2020/2021 campaign, drifted a delightful pass between Andersen and Bassey. Cunha seized his chance expertly, cushioning the ball beautifully and caressing a finish past the stranded Bernd Leno in an instant.

Silva’s side sought to up the ante after half time, but they were caught out by a cleverly constructed Wolves’ counter-attack. Cunha crept into the penalty area after the Whites failed to clear the danger and his delightfully disguised reverse pass found Gomes in space. The midfielder slotted into the far corner with aplomb to turn the game on its head.

Silva sent on Harry Wilson and Tom Cairney to try and turn the tide. Wilson almost reprised his immediate impact against Brentford and Crystal Palace, but his dipping drive from distance clipped the crossbar – and that was as close as Fulham came to another comeback. Their hopes of a point were hindered by Andersen’s early departure after Silva had gambled with a triple change, which left the hosts short staffed at the back.

The Whites poured forward in search of a late leveller, but were undone again by another piece of Cunha magic after Gomes had driven wide from a promising position. The Brazilian bent a brilliant finish around Leno from 25 yards, finding the top corner fantastically, and peeled away to celebrate in front of the delirious away support. A rampant Wolves added a fourth in the fifth minute of added time as Guedes surged away from the remnants of a ravaged back three and fired home to underline how far Fulham had fallen from their first half dominance.

Silva scratched his head on the sideline – bemused at how this game had got away from his charges. Fulham had only mustered a single point after an international break this term and they will need to be far more durable when they head to Tottenham Hotspur next Sunday.

FULHAM (4-2-3-1): Leno; Tete (Castagne 71), A. Robinson, Andersen, Bassey; Lukic, Pereira (Cairney 59); Iwobi, Nelson (Traore 71), Smith Rowe (Wilson 71); Jimenez (Muniz 71). Subs (not used): Benda, Sessegnon, Cuenca, Diop, King.

BOOKED: Bassey, Tete, Pereira.

GOAL: Iwobi (20).

WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS (3-4-3): Jose Sa; Lemina, Toti Gomes, Ait Nouri; Andre, Joao Gomes (T. Doyle 90+1), Semedo (Pond 90+7), Rodrigo Gomes (Hwang Hee-Chan 90+2); Bellegarde (Doherty 87), Cunha (Guedes 90+2), Larsen. Subs (not used): Bentley, Cundle, Edozie, Forbs.

GOALS: Cunha (31, 87), Joao Gomes (53), Guedes (90+5).

REFEREE: Robert Jones (Merseyside).