Fulham 4 Bolton 1 - report

Fulham 4 Bolton 1

Loftus Road became home sweet home for Fulham today as they began their two-year groundshare with a thumping 4-1 victory against Bolton - thanks to two-goal Sylvain Legwinski and referee Alan Wiley.

The Burntwood official awarded a hat-trick of spot-kicks, two for Jean Tigana’s men, as Fulham officially began their stint at Queens Park Rangers’ home while Craven Cottage undergoes a £70m revamp.

Michael Ricketts fired the Trotters in front from the spot after just five minutes - sparking hopes of a repeat of last year’s 5-0 opening-day demolition job at Leicester among the travelling fans.

But Sam Allardyce’s afternoon went rapidly downhill from there as Louis Saha won and converted spot kick number two, in the 12th minute.

And a two-goal blast in four minutes before the break put usually-shot-shy Intertoto Cup finalists Fulham on the way to their first three-point haul of the season.

Legwinski slotted the first of his brace the far corner in the 34th minute - and Steve Marlet’s penalty four minutes later put Jean Tigana’s men 3-1 up.

The second half failed to live up to the hectic pace of the first, but Legwinski wrapped up the Cottagers’ victory when he thundered home from the edge of the box with 11 minutes left.

Earlier, Fulham’s Republic of Ireland World Cup star Steve Finnan had made a surprise comeback from a twisted ankle and flu bug.

Allardyce’s men got the new season off to flying start thanks to an ice-cool Ricketts penalty in the fifth minute.

Youri Djorkaeff poked the ball past Cottagers centre-back Alain Goma.

The Cottagers player made a clumsy challenge on his fellow Frenchman, ref Wiley pointed to the spot and Ricketts - after a stop-start run-up - sent Edwin van der Sar the wrong way.

Fulham hit back immediately, and after Marlet had somehow sent a point-blank header wide, Saha levelled from the spot after 12 minutes.

He rounded Gudni Bergsson eight yards from goal and tumbled theatrically, winning another penalty. The French forward coolly beat Jussi Jaaskelainen with a powerful strike into the bottom left corner.

The best opportunity for Tigana’s men to prise open the visitors’ defence appeared to be down the left flank, where Luis Boa Morte had the beating of Bernard Mendy - who had already been booked for pulling him down as he approached the penalty box.

Marlet, who endured a nightmare in front of goal last season - hitting the net just nine times after his £11.5million move from Lyon - missed a fine chance after 31 minutes.

Steed Malbranque slipped a fine pass through the Bolton backline but French international Marlet shot at Jaaskelainen’s feet.

Legwinski showed him how it should be done three minutes later in a replica move.

It was Finnan who played the ball in from the right wing this time, and after Legwinski skilfully cut inside, he rolled a precise shot into the far corner to give the home side a deserved 2-1 lead.

And it got even better for the jubilant Fulham fans seven minutes before the break.

Boa Morte skinned Mendy again and the right-back sent him sprawling inside the box. Marlet took this spot-kick and confidently swept the ball high into the right side of the net to make it 3-1.

After the break, Legwinski won a towering header to set Saha free. He cut inside and curled the ball a foot wide of the far post from 16 yards.

Junichi Inamoto’s introduction two minutes later sent the sizeable Japanese contingent in the home crowd into raptures - and his first contribution was to whip a corner onto Marlet’s head. The ball flashed narrowly over.

Wanderers substitute Henrik Pedersen curled a fine effort inches over van der Sar’s crossbar with 20 minutes left.

In the 79th minute, Legwinski made the most of Paul Warhurst’s botched clearance and cracked home a thumping 18-yard drive to clinch the 4-1 success.