Stefan Johansen and Tom Cairney goals sink Norwich to extend Fulham's unbeaten run

Norwich City 0 Fulham 2: The visitors are now unbeaten in their last 17 games but remain outside automatic promotion in the Championship

Tom Cairney celebrates after adding Fulham's second (PA)

Two goals in four second-half minutes from Stefan Johansen and Tom Cairney were enough for Fulham to see off sorry Norwich and extend their unbeaten run to 17 games.

Slavisa Jokanovic’s side remain no closer to automatic promotion as second-place Cardiff, the team directly above them, are still seven points better off thanks to a home win against Burton.

But this Carrow Road success, albeit against opponents they usually master, was further proof that a team that came alive following a mid-December defeat at Sunderland looks like its going places.

Fulham felt confident enough to leave Ryan Sessegnon, the 17-year-old touted as a £40m summer target for Manchester United and now an England Under-21 international, on the bench, ending a run of 38 straight league starts.

The side that kicked off, having made more than 1,000 passes more than any other Championship side this season, began with the sort of confidence a lengthy unbeaten run can give you.

There was a nervous early moment for the hosts when captain Ivo Pinto appeared to barge Floyd Ayite over inside the box but referee Keith Stroud saw nothing illegal.

It was a similar story when Aleksandar Mitrovic hit the deck as Timm Klose challenged, with Norwich retaliating with the match’s long-awaited first shot in the 20th minute. Josh Murphy’s long ranger lacked venom but Marcus Bettinelli needed two attempts to get it under control.

Floyd Ayite appeals for a foul after a challenge with Ivo Pinto (Getty)

Tim Ream, free at the back post, volleyed over Fulham’s first reply but the visitors were fortunate that Mario Vrancic picked out the first defender at the other end when James Maddison and Dennis Srbeny were waiting in front of goal.

Murphy then failed to set up either of the pair with the odds also in Norwich’s favour; Maddison would have been the better option especially as Srbeny, the eventual recipient, had stopped as if he had assumed he was offside.

Norwich finally got it right seconds before half-time when Pinto was played in behind the Fulham back-line but Denis Odoi was able to hack away the resulting square ball at the last moment.

The second half began with a ball designed to send Srbeny away ended up clipping the German’s heel but the forward got it right seconds later to launch a rising drive that Bettinelli did well to tip over.

Josh Murphy and Denis Odoi battle for the ball (Getty)

Sessegnon came on for Ayite in the 54th minute and within seconds Mitrovic, under pressure at the back post from Christoph Zimmermann, headed narrowly wide.

The game needed a spark and Murphy almost provided one just before the hour mark, shaping his body superbly to launch a volley that flashed inches wide of Bettinelli’s left-hand post.

Another good move saw a Maddison shot blocked as he cut inside from the right of the box but it was a defender who came to Norwich’s rescue straight after.

Sessegnon was sent to chase a long ball and Angus Gunn decided he had to intercept. The contact the Norwich goalkeeper made outside his box was inconclusive however, allowing Sessegnon to shoot. Zimmermann had anticipated the danger though, and blocked on the line.

The reprieve was short-lived however as Klose allowed Mitrovic a close-range header that Gun was able to parry but Johansen was first to the loose ball to lash home.

A second arrived within four minutes later and Klose was even more culpable as his flick-of-the-boot attempt to block Lucas Piazon’s ball into the box merely teed up Cairney for a simple finish.