Willian’s second penalty of an eventful evening at Craven Cottage felt massive. The Brazilian veteran’s nerveless conversion of a generous spot-kick award in stoppage time after Fulham had twice relinquished the lead to Wolverhampton Wanderers ensured Marco Silva’s put ten points between themselves and the relegation zone in the midst of a stuttering second season in the top flight.

The Portuguese head coach insisted he wasn’t worried about looking over his shoulder in the build-up to this game and felt his side needed only to become more consistent in order to climb the table. He referenced the need to match the intensity of a Wolves outfit clearly flourishing under the stewardship of Gary O’Neill and sprung a surprise in his team selection. Harrison Reed did replace the suspended Joao Palhinha but was partnered in central midfield by Tom Cairney, making his first league start in more than three months. Alex Iwobi switched out to the right flank as the Silva plumped for a combination of grift and guile to win the critical midfield battle.

The switch paid immediate dividends as the hosts hit the front in the seventh minute with a goal of real quality. Iwobi switched the play out to the left where Willian and Antonee Robinson worked a clever give and go before the American full-back fizzed a low ball across the box. Iwobi made light of the cut back being a little behind him by improvising a fabulous first-time finish to the delight of the home crowd. It could have been two shortly afterwards, as first Willian almost pounced a lovely ball from Iwobi, and then a short corner came to Cairney at the edge of the box, but the Fulham captain cracked his shot straight at Jose Sa.

But Fulham’s flying start almost came crashing down around them in an instant. First, Antonee Robinson somehow escaped a yellow card for scything down Hwang Hee-chan on the halfway line, and then Reed presented the ball to Mario Lemina as if the Wolves midfielder was still a team-mate from his 2020/21 loan spell with the Whites. Lemina’s ball was perfectly weighted for Hwang to run onto and such is the South Korean striker’s rich vein of goalscoring form he was a little disappointed to clip the crossbar with a rising drive as he bore down on Bernd Leno.

The relief was merely temporary for the home side as the watchable winger Jean-Ricner Bellegarde twisted Antonee Robinson inside out before standing up a delightful cross to the back post where Matheus Cunha buried a free header. Fulham’s defending, with eight men in the box leaving two forwards completely unattended, was diabolical but the aesthetic beauty of the goal was undeniable to the delight of the raucous travelling fans in the Putney End.

Suddenly, Fulham looked rattled. Reed tried to turn on the edge of his own area and was robbed by Hwang with Fulham fortunate that it was substitute Matt Doherty, an early replacement for the injured Rayan Aït-Nouri, who found himself in advanced position on the left wing. The Irish international’s cut back had too much power on it and the hosts breathed a huge sigh of relief. Iwobi sent a couple of snapshots off target – but not by much – before Fulham were indebted to Timothy Castagne, who slid in to avert the danger as Bellegarde’s low cross deflected towards goal off Calvin Bassey.

That wasn’t the end of the drama as Leno, usually exemplary with the ball at his feet, took an extra touch with Lemina haring down on him in pursuit of a backpass. The former Southampton midfielder darted in to steal possession but the tight angle made an immediate shot impossible and Bassey burst back to cover the cross towards Joao Gomes ensuring that Fulham, despite more than a few alarms, went in all square.

Wolves switched their wing backs over at the start of the second period that began at a helter-skelter pace, but was devoid of quality. Castagne made a magnificent interception covering at the near post when Doherty seemed destined to turn in a teasing cross from Hwang before Cairney took a leaf out of his full back’s book to win possession back from Lemina with a fierce challenge. Andreas Pereira drove into the box before being crowded out, but Cairney was caught as he burst onto the loose ball by Nelson Semedo. VAR Stuart Attwell consulted several replays before agreeing with Michael Salisbury’s penalty award and Willian sent Sa the wrong way to put Fulham back in front.

The hosts had chances to extend their advantage with Raul Jimenez putting Iwobi in the clear only for Sa to deny the Nigerian international a second goal. The Wolves goalkeeper kept out an effort from Pereira after the ensuing corner and Wolves came again with Lemina drawing a smart save from Leno. O’Neill sent on Sasa Kalajdzic and the Austrian striker had an immediate impact, panicking Calvin Bassey into a header that bounced invitingly for Hwang. The Wolves forward look favourite to beat Ream to the loose ball ahead of Leno and went to ground under the American’s challenge. It looked a clear cut penalty and Hwang made no mistake in levelling matters from twelve yards.

The second equaliser spurred on Wolves with Doherty close to laying on a third with a strong run before Ream cleared the danger with an outstretched leg. Silva sent on Harry Wilson and Vinicius, whose major contribution was to get booked for squaring up to Max Kilman on the touchline. Cairney came close to putting Fulham back in front with a low drive from distance that went a yard wide – but the game’s most contentious moment was to come in injury time.

Salisbury initially waved play on on after Wilson had gone done having harried Gomes as the midfielder took his time in clearing his lines inside the Wolves box, but he was sent to consult the pitchside monitor and changed his mind. That put serious pressure on Willian, who picked out the other corner to restore Fulham’s lead. Silva’s side had to survive twelve minutes of stoppage time – and a late barrage of Wolves pressure – to claim what felt like an important victory.

FULHAM (4-2-3-1): Leno; Castagne, A. Robinson, Bassey, Ream; Reed, Cairney (Lukic 90+5); Iwobi, Willian (Adarabioyo 90+5), Pereira (Wilson 76); Jimenez (Vinicius 76). Subs (not used): Rodak, Tete, Ballo-Toure, De Cordova-Reid, Harris.

BOOKED: Ream, Vinicius.

GOALS: Iwobi (7), Willian (pen 59, pen 90+4).

WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS (3-5-2): Sa; S. Bueno, Toti, Kilman; Semedo, Aït-Nouri (Doherty 19), Lemina, Gomes, Bellegarde (Kalajdzic 62); Hwang Hee-chan, Cunha (Doyle 83). Subs (not used): Bentley, Otto, Troare, H. Bueno, Sarabia, Silva.

BOOKED: Gomes, Lemina.

GOALS: Cunha (22), Hwang Hee-chan (pen 75).

REFEREE: Michael Salisbury (Preston)

ATTENDANCE: 24,336