Fulham 2 Charlton Athletic 1: Jensen and McBride add to Charlton's suffering

Rock-bottom and rooted there by an old boy, Charlton Athletic will be feeling especially sore after dominating Fulham at Craven Cottage last night only to be undone by two goals, in quick succession, one created and one finished by their former midfielder Claus Jensen.

The Dane has struggled with injury and loss of confidence since his move across London - after refusing to sign a new deal at The Valley. It will add to Charlton's sense that the gods are conspiring against them that the 32 minutes Jensen played here were his first in the Premiership this season.

Indeed, they were his first for almost a year and consigned Charlton to a fifth consecutive defeat while propelling Fulham into the table's top half. Even Darren Bent's opportunistic sixth goal - out of Charlton's total of seven - could not save Iain Dowie's side.

It will not have helped the manager's composure that the man he succeeded, Alan Curbishley, declared afterwards that eight games shape a campaign and Charlton are in trouble. "I always keep believing," Dowie replied. "I'm the Miracle on the 34th Street. I have always been a believer." He needs to be - and now more than ever.

For Fulham's Chris Coleman - an old team-mate of Dowie's - there was pure satisfaction. "We've had him for two years and he has played less than 20 games," he said of Jensen. "It's a shame because we had such high hopes." Those hopes may finally be realised if Jensen, who is now playing for a new contract, remains fit. "It's a great start," Coleman said.

Not that Fulham made anything near a great start. Charlton, in Coleman's words, "bossed it" and should have been ahead before Jensen's introduction. Chance after chance was squandered - all the more maddening for Dowie because only one of them, a tame effort from Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, required a save.

Instead, the otherwise encouraging Andy Reid, especially with a lame second-half header, the lively Dennis Rommedahl and Marcus Bent were all wasteful. Charlton appeared like a team determined to extricate themselves from their troubles - but far too on edge to do so.

In fairness to Fulham, their defenders, Ian Pearce in particular, stood firm. But that was their only redemption in a first-half that led to them being booed off.

After the interval, Coleman eventually introduced Jensen to wrestle control of the midfield. As with the draw salvaged at Watford two Mondays ago, when Fulham came back from two down, Coleman's substitutions proved decisive.

Suddenly, Fulham had more shape. Jensen grabbed the ball for a free-kick, Pearce jumped on the penalty area's edge and it fell to McBride. Maybe he controlled it with his arm - Charlton were convinced he did while the striker confessed it may have happened unintentionally - but he struck a fierce right-footed drive into the corner of the net.

Then Liam Rosenior prodded the ball forward and Jensen found himself in behind a tiring Souleymane Diawara. He took the ball in his stride and struck a wonderful, rising shot beyond the goalkeeper Scott Carson. "We had a mad two minutes," lamented Dowie.

His team hit back. Substitute Jerome Thomas darted into the area, tumbled and amid the penalty appeals the ball ran to Bent who slammed in the half-chance. But it was not enough.

Goals: McBride (65) 1-0; Jensen (67) 2-0; D Bent (78) 2-1;

Fulham (4-4-2): Niemi; Rosenior, Knight, Pearce, Queudrue; Radzinski, Diop (Bocanegra, 82), Brown, Routledge (Volz, 79); Helguson (Jensen, 58), McBride. Substitutes not used: Lastuvka (gk), John.

Charlton Athletic (4-4-2): Carson; Young, El Karkouri, Diawara (Holland, 79), Hreidarsson; Rommedahl, Faye, Hughes (Thomas, 72), Reid; Hasselbaink (M Bent, 72), D Bent. Substitutes not used: Myhre (gk), Fortune.

Referee: R Styles (Hampshire).

Booked: Fulham Queudrue; Charlton El Karkouri, Young, Reid.

Man of the match: Jensen.

Attendance: 19,179.