Although at the moment in the Premier League Fulham appear unlikely to take points off anyone, there once was a time that Craven Cottage used to be a difficult place for opposing teams to visit.
When they hosted Arsenal on this day in 2006, not only did the Gunners have a tough schedule to deal with but there were two players in the hosts' lineup who used to be on the books of the visitors. Moritz Volz and Luis Boa Morte were both firm favourites with the Craven Cottage faithful and the latter in particular showed his old side what he could do.
Fulham had started the season well but having lost their last two in the league were beginning to look over their shoulders again in what was becoming a tight bottom half. Arsenal - runners-up in the league the previous season - had been inconsistent at the start of this one, but here was a good chance to get some important points on the board to lift them back into the Champions League spots.
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History was certainly in Arsenal's favour. Although there was a gap of some 33 years when the two sides were not in the same division, the Gunners had not been defeated by Fulham in 40. The last time Fulham had tasted victory over the Gunners was at the Cottage in a Division One match on New Year's Day in 1966. They won 1-0. They would have loved the same result here.
In their favour they had a lively crowd and a feisty atmosphere, which was reflected in the total of 10 yellow cards handed out to players on both sides by Lee Mason. They also had just the start they wanted. Now club hero Brian McBride did what he did best to head in from a sixth-minute Claus Jensen corner. Craven Cottage believed.
What was perhaps key was that the opener had come against the run of play. Arsenal started well but suddenly found themselves with an awful lot to do, but with the players they had on the pitch, such as Thierry Henry and Robin van Persie they remained a threat.
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Fulham managed to double their advantage inside 20 minutes, with much of the credit for the goal going to Boa Morte. He jinked and turned on the left side of the box and then crossed to provide Tomasz Radzinski with the simplest of tap-ins. Fulham were suddenly cruising.
The hosts were also playing solidly at the back and Arsenal were being restricted to chances from set pieces as their usual flowing football was hampered. And that is exactly where their goal came from. With just nine minutes of the first half left Van Persie fired in a wonderful free kick to set up the second half.
Henry had a goal chalked off for offside, and then came a situation that the Fulham faithful have themselves become used to seeing in the last couple of seasons. Boa Morte, always looking to run, took on Philippe Senderos and was too much again for the big Swiss defender, who brought him down for his second yellow card and an early bath.
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From the resulting free kick Boa Morte's effort rattled the underside of the bar and came back out into play before Theo Walcott immediately went up the other end and hit the post with a deflected shot.
There was still time for Boa Morte to have a goal ruled out and Jens Lehmann to come up for a couple of corners but the Whites held on for what was a famous win to end the 40 years of hurt against the Gunners.
Matt Domm
