Goals from Mladen Petric (2), Damien Duff, Alex Kacaniklic and Steve Sidwell sent Fulham top of the Barclays Premier League after an emphatic opening-day victory over Norwich City.

Martin Jol picked new recruits Petric and Sascha Riether in his starting line-up for the inaugural game of the 2012/13 season, with fellow summer arrival Hugo Rodallega named amongst the substitutes.

Brede Hangeland led the side as Captain in a 4-2-3-1 formation, alongside Riether, Aaron Hughes and John Arne Riise in defence, with Mahamadou Diarra and Mousa Dembele anchoring the midfield.

The attacking trio of Duff, Bryan Ruiz and Kacaniklic were tasked with the job of supporting Petric up front.

After a confident start by the visitors, Fulham began to get a grip on the game and forced the Canaries into several nasty challenges in their attempts to stop Ruiz, Petric and Diarra who were in full flow.

The first half-chance fell the way of Duff after he was put through by a long ball over the top - unfortunately the winger couldn’t get his shot away under pressure from yellow shirts.

A nice counter attack on 17 minutes saw Grant Holt put Andrew Surman in on Mark Schwarzer’s goal but the Aussie stopper was equal to his near-post shot.

A sloppy clearance a minute later from England keeper John Ruddy fell to Ruiz but the forward had to get his effort in quickly and lofted it just over the crossbar.

After 22 minutes Riise came as close as he ever has to scoring his first Fulham goal but the Norwegian’s shot was well kept out by Ruddy after a magnificent Ruiz pass had sent him through.

The Whites were now in complete control of the game and Ruddy had to be on hand again moments later to keep out Ruiz’s effort from distance.

Petric was next to test Ruddy as his angled shot was beaten away for a corner in front of the Putney End.

It was all Fulham and the Whites deservedly took the lead on 26 minutes through Duff. A delightful cross-field pass from Riise fed Duff down the right and the Republic of Ireland international kept his composure to prod past Ruddy.

A brilliant last-ditch challenge from Ryan Bennett denied Ruiz a shot after Petric had sent the Costa Rican through but from the resulting corner the Whites doubled their lead with a debut goal from Petric.

Duff's whipped corner was glanced goalwards by the Croatian and although a Norwich defender hooked it away, the linesman correctly ruled that it had already crossed the line.

Fulham were rampant and Ruddy needed to be at his best to keep Ruiz’s free-kick out after the Norwich defence had felled the marauding Dembele.

Norwich changed their formation after the restart with striker Steve Morison replacing midfielder Andrew Surman but it was the hosts who had the first chance of the second period when Kacaniklic’s shot from Duff’s cut-back was blocked.

Fulham killed the game as a contest on 54 minutes when Petric fired home from 25 yards - via a deflection - after collecting Ruiz’s pass.

And little over 10 minutes later we made it four with a goal of the highest quality. Dembele fed Petric whose sumptuous back-flick set Kacaniklic through and the Swede made no mistake from close range with a neat right-footed finish for his first Fulham goal.

Petric was withdrawn following the goal celebrations and the striker went off to rapturous applause after scoring twice and assisting once on a highly impressive debut for the Club. His departure saw fellow new boy Rodallega enter the action.

Schwarzer had to be alert moments later and the Fulham keeper used his body well to keep out Bradley Johnson’s vicious effort from range.

Jol withdrew another of his goalscorers on 74 minutes when Duff made way for Pajtim Kasami, before another standing ovation was given by the Fulham fans seven minutes later when the mercurial Ruiz was replaced by Sidwell.

The Whites were awarded a penalty on 86 minutes when Norwich failed to clear their lines and Rodallega was scythed down after being found in the box by Hangeland. Sidwell stepped up - on his first competitive appearance since recovering from injury - to emphatically plant the ball past Ruddy.

It was a majestic performance by Jol’s troops and sets the Team up perfectly for next week’s trip to Old Trafford.