Goals from Dimitar Berbatov and Alexander Kacaniklic made sure Fulham started the New Year with a bang in a deserved 2-1 defeat of West Bromwich Albion.  

Berbatov opened the scoring not long before half-time, sweeping in from Ashkan Dejagah’s pass across the Baggies’ box. Romelu Lukaku drew the home side level with an early second-half strike, but Kacaniklic edged his side back in front with a confident finish in the first Barclays Premier League fixture of 2013.

The hosts entered the game in seventh place, and looking to offset their weekend defeat at Manchester United as manager Steve Clarke made five changes to his starting line-up with Youssouf Mulumbu, Marc-Antoine Fortune, James Morrison, Romelu Lukaku and former Fulham favourite Zoltan Gera restored to the side.

Martin Jol, who spent time with West Brom as a player, made one change, with Alexander Kacaniklic replacing Kerim Frei on the left of the Fulham midfield.

Three days earlier, the Whites had slipped to a disappointing 2-1 home defeat to Swansea City. But following a positive second-half showing at the Cottage our boys looked like starting this encounter how they finished the last, dominating the early stages and dictating the tempo.

With Giorgos Karagounis and Kacaniklic seeing a lot of the ball, Fulham looked threatening on the break with Gareth McAuley thwarting one such move by doing just enough to beat Bryan Ruiz to a low centre.

From the resulting corner, Karagounis bent in a fabulous in-swinging corner from the left with Aaron Hughes going close to a connection as the Greek’s delivery flashed across goal. In taking the game to the home side, Steve Sidwell fired high and wide when well-placed on the edge of the West Brom box following a clever lay-off from Ashkan Dejagah.

At the other end, the Baggies registered their first real effort on goal on 18 minutes when McAuley headed wide from Chris Brunt’s cross. Lukaku then outmuscled Hughes before running at the Fulham goal. Fortunately for the Whites, Sidwell was on hand to make a fine last-ditch tackle. From the following corner, Gabriel Tamas headed wide.

Having looked sharper and more composed than their hosts, Berbatov could well have opened the scoring for the Whites when latching on to Dejagah’s teasing through-ball, but the Bulgarian fired over with the goal in sight.

However, Fulham’s number nine made amends on 39 minutes, starting and finishing a fine break from the halfway line. Lifting a pass into the path of Dejagah, Berbatov glided forward to meet the Iran international’s return with a cool first-time finish to give Jol’s charges a deserved lead at the break.

West Brom’s response was swift, though, with Clarke’s men levelling after just four second-half minutes. Fortune ran from deep to find Billy Jones, the right-back then wrong-footed Matthew Briggs in the Fulham box before squaring for Lukaku to finish from close range.

The goal spurred the hosts into further action, with Lukaku striking the post with a stinging effort on the turn, while Brunt tried his luck from distance. Then came three chances in the space of less than 20 seconds for the homes side; with Lukaku first drawing David Stockdale into a fine low save before Gera rattled the woodwork from the rebound, Hughes then made a fantastic block to deny Brunt.

But it was Fulham that edged in front, when Kacaniklic rolled in a confident finish against the run of play on 57 minutes. The Sweden international controlled superbly from Ruiz’s clever pass before turning McAuley and Jones in one cool spin.

With the game nicely poised, both teams impressed on the break with Berbatov and Dejagah linking well for the Whites, while Lukaku continued to prove a handful for the Baggies.

Hugo Rodallega crashed an effort over the bar from one such move, following an intelligent combination between Briggs and Kacaniklic. Moments later, the Colombian striker almost got the end of Sascha Riether’s low cross from the right as Fulham searched for a third.

As the action entered the final 10 minutes, the game began to stretch as both sides looked to an all important breakthrough. But with the impetus on West Brom, Fulham’s composure shone through, with Brede Hangeland, Berbatov and Ruiz particularly cool in possession.

West Brom did go close with two late injury-time ventures, with Hughes making a vital intervention to beat the Baggies’ attack to Jones’ dangerous delivery and Stockdale making a brave stop to keep out Morrison.

However, Fulham held on to see the game through, recording their second away win of the season and a valuable first three points of 2013.