One moment of magic in an otherwise poor encounter set up Fulham's win in a closely contested First Division match.

That moment came in the 39th minute when Louis Saha, marked by two defenders, received a pass from Sean Davis.

The Frenchman shrugged off his markers, swivelled and let fly and his shot from 20 yards which flew into the far corner of the net beyond the despairing dive of goal keeper Andy Marshall.

An 87th minute goal from Luis Boa Morte, again manufactured out of nothing, gave the score a respectability that was hard on Norwich.

In the first half the home side defended well and coped with Saha and Boa Morte better than Manchester United did on Sunday in the FA Cup third round.

It was an even contest and though Fulham's approach play was good they were rarely allowed to test Marshall.

Fulham's rather low-key performance showed how much they missed the absent Lee Clark.

Norwich began the second half with a good spell of attacking football.

They won four corners in a hectic five minute spell and really put the Fulham's defence to the test.

Having weathered the storm Fulham began to push forward again and Marshall did well to stop a 78th minute shot from Saha.

With the visitors still pushing forward for an equaliser they left themselves vulnerable at the back and the speedy Boa Morte took full advantage with his late goal.

Teams:

Fulham Taylor, Finnan, Brevett, Melville, Symons, Goldbaek, Stolcers (Phelan 57), Davis, Boa Morte, Betsy (Sahnoun 72), Saha.

Subs Not Used: Hahnemann, Riedle, Neilson.

Booked: Saha, Symons.

Goals: Saha 39, Boa Morte 90.

Norwich Andy Marshall, Sutch, Lee Marshall, Fleming, Jackson (McGovern 48), Kenton, Russell, Mulryne (de Blasiis 73), Roberts, Notman (Abbey 62), Llewellyn.

Subs Not Used: Green, Coote.

Booked: Russell.

Att: 16,052

Ref: W Jordan (Tring).