Martin Jol, making a welcome return to the home dugout, made just one change from our victory at Anfield as Mahamadou Diarra came in for Alex Kacaniklic.

Fulham were quickest out of the blocks and a visionary Danny Murphy pass in the seventh minute put Damien Duff in behind the Sunderland backline but Simon Mignolet was equal to the Irishman’s effort at his near post.

Fulham were keen to put in a strong performance in their final Craven Cottage appearance of the season and were awarded a free-kick 25 yards from goal when a marauding Diarra was stopped in his tracks.

Top goalscorer Clint Dempsey stepped up to emphatically plant the ball in the top right-hand corner of the net for his 50^th Premier League goal. Mignolet got fingertips to the ball but such was the power and accuracy of the strike, the Belgian stopper stood little chance of keeping it out.

A neat through-ball saw Stephane Sessegnon put in on goal after 16 minutes but the man from Benin shot straight at Mark Schwarzer who was quick to read the danger.

Good work from Murphy and Duff five minutes later ended with the winger finding Pavel Pogrebnyak in the area with his cross. The Russian controlled well and hit a shot on the swivel but was denied by a fine late block by a Sunderland body.

With Fulham on top, a Sunderland equaliser on 34 minutes came completely out of the blue as, for the second game in a row, a visiting full-back scored an absolute screamer against Fulham at Craven Cottage as Phil Bardsley rifled home from 30 yards.

But a minute after conceding, which was again reminiscent of the Wigan game, Fulham responded as Mousa Dembele broke forward before striking a goal-bound shot from distance that took a deflection off Michael Turner and looped over Mignolet to put the Whites back in front.

Keen to extend their lead, Martin Jol’s Team pressed as the half drew to a close with Duff finding the side-netting before a pinpoint ball over the top from Brede Hangeland found Dempsey in the area. Unfortunately though the Texan couldn’t find a finish to match his impeccable first touch.

The first chance of the second period came seven minutes in, when Pogrebnyak’s hooked effort was defelected over for a corner, from which Dempsey’s effort was cleared off the line.

With Fulham in the ascendency, Stephen Kelly was next to try his luck but his well-struck half volley was too close to Mignolet to cause him any real concern. The visiting ‘keeper had to be alert again moments later as he stuck out a strong palm to expertly keep out Duff’s low effort.

Sunderland were struggling to get a foothold in the game so Martin O’Neill introduced Nicklas Bendtner on the hour mark, moments before James McClean volleyed straight at Schwarzer from distance.

A fluent counter-attack by the Whites on 73 minutes almost saw Dembele double his tally for the afternoon but Mignolet was out quickly to smother his effort following a lightning break involving Dempsey and Diarra.

While the score remained 2-1 Sunderland were always in it and broke a minute later only for Bendtner to fire well wide when he had better options available. The Dane was involved in the Mackems’ next chance too as he nodded down for fellow substitute Fraizer Campbell who dragged his shot wide.

Jol replaced Murphy with Chris Baird on 85 minutes as Fulham looked to see the game out and our Captain went off to a fantastic reception from the Cottage Faithful after a stellar performance in the middle of the park.

Dembele was denied a superb solo goal on 89 minutes when he ran from the halfway line before skipping inside two defenders and firing goalwards, only to find Mignolet in fine form once more.

Only two minutes of stoppage time were announced but Sunderland still had time to test Schwarzer who beat Campbell’s shot away in what was the last meaningful action of an entertaining game.