WOLVERHAMPTON, England – Fulham secured a 2-1 win at lowly Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Premier League on Tuesday to boost their hopes of European football, with Ryan Sessegnon giving them a first-minute lead before Rodrigo Muniz got the winner after the break.

Sessegnon put Fulham in front after 58 seconds, striking a low shot inside the far post after breaking down the left, before Joao Gomes blasted home an equaliser in the 18th minute.

However, Muniz restored Fulham’s lead just after the restart with a chipped finish from the edge of the area.

“Of course the early goals (in each half) made an impact,” Fulham manager Marco Silva told the BBC.

“They made us play in a mid-block off the ball because when you’re winning they have to come a bit more. We did control the second half in a different way to what we normally do.”

Fulham, who have won three of their last four league games, rose to ninth on 42 points after 27 games, four points off the top four and two points behind fifth-placed Manchester City, who visit Tottenham Hotspur on Wednesday.

Wolves stay 17th and are five points above the drop zone, though that cushion could be cut when 18th-placed Ipswich Town visit struggling Manchester United on Wednesday, and Leicester City, in 19th, travel to West Ham United on Thursday.

“It’s three points that we wasted,” said Wolves coach Vitor Pereira.

“It’s time to work, to correct the mistakes, to not sleep in the dressing room because I think we slept in the dressing room and we went into the game sleeping. This cannot happen again.”

Fulham got the perfect start when winger Sessegnon scored his first goal on his first Premier League start since returning to the club in July after leaving Tottenham Hotspur.

Andreas Pereira fed him with a pass on the left flank and the 24-year-old Fulham youth product fired into the far corner.

BETTER SIDE

Despite being a goal down, Wolves were the better side and Gomes shot over the bar 15 minutes later from a tight angle.

The Brazilian midfielder got things right soon after though when he fired powerfully into the roof of the net after a Jean-Ricner Bellegarde cross from the left ended up in front of him.

Matheus Cunha had two decent chances to put Wolves in front towards the end of first half but his free kick from just outside the box lacked the power to beat goalkeeper Bernd Leno.

The forward then put Leno to work again with another attempt but the teams went in level at the break.

Fulham got another quick start when Muniz restored the lead in the 47th after Adama Traore delivered a perfect low pass that the Brazilian put past keeper Jose Sa, who was way off his line.

The hosts lacked ideas on how to get past the Fulham defence but visiting defender Timothy Castagne had to block a dangerous close-range attempt from Rayan Ait-Nouri in stoppage time.

Fulham earned their first Premier League win at Molineux and first overall since a 4-0 victory in 1985 in the second tier.

Wolves travel to Bournemouth in the FA Cup fifth round on Saturday before Fulham visit Manchester United on Sunday. REUTERS

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