Fulham have won their second West London derby over QPR this season with a 1-0 result at Loftus Road.
The Cottagers were all over the R's early, following on from their 6-0 home win in October, and it was Pavel Pogrebnyak's goal inside seven minutes which in the end proved the difference for the club to notch up just their second away win of the campaign.
The goal came early on when Moussa Dembele played a clever ball behind him which somehow made its way into the path of Pogrebynak with the Russian rounding Paddy Kenny to slot home with his left foot to make it two in two for the Cottagers.
There were a host of chances in the first half with Clint Dempsey sliding his shot across goal in the 11th minute before Fulham keeper Mark Schwarzer was able to deny Shaun Wright-Phillips from range then thwarting bobby Zamora from inches out but he was called for offside.
The 32nd minute saw Kenny gett down low to block a fierce angled effort from Danny Murphy which came moments before R's debutant Samba Diakite was sent off for a second bookable offence, both on Bryan Ruiz.
QPR were much better in the second half despite being a man down as Fulham kicked into cruise control which probably wasn't too wise with just a one-goal cushion.
Late in the piece it almost came back to bite them as Joey Barton found Wright-Phillips who was one-on-one with Schwarzer but the Australian managed to get a slight deflection to knock it wide with his foot.
Dickson Etuhu missed a late chance for Fulham when he dragged wide after a positive run but in the end Martin Jol's men did enough to get the result they were looking for over ex-Cottagers boss Mark Hughes.
The win puts Fulham 11th on the table as QPR fell further toward the drop zone as they now sit 17th on equal points with Blackburn Rovers.
TRIBAL ASKS: Is it almost curtains for QPR or was their performance with ten men positive?
QPR: 0 Fulham: 1 (Pavel Pogrebnyak 7')
Loftus Road, London - 18,015
Yellow cards:QPR - Samba Diakite 20'33/ FUL - Pavel Pogrebnyak 8', Moussa Dembele 65', John Arne Riise 69', Chris Baird 85' Red card:QPR - Samba Diakite 33'
