Sky Bet Championship leaders Derby County were stunned by an excellent Fulham performance at Craven Cottage, but results elsewhere mean that the Rams stay top of the division. Defender Nikolay Bodurov opened the scoring with a tidy finish with half an hour played, before 20-year-old forward Cauley Woodrow added an equally impressive second on the stroke of half-time.
Woodrow and Scott Parker returned for the hosts, the only two changes to the side which was soundly beaten 3-0 in midweek by Wolves.
Meanwhile, England youth international George Thorne made his second league appearance for the Rams. The imposing midfielder came in for wonderkid Will Hughes, who has been told to clean up his act following a spell of five bookings in his last eight games.
Despite a run of no wins in six games, the Cottagers started confidently and could have struck first earlier than they did through Ross McCormack or Lasse Christensen who both shot wide in the first ten minutes.
Derby were clearly second-best but they did have chances of their own, with Darren Bent first heading wide, then hitting the post. The former England forward has been instrumental in recent weeks, but was forced to leave the pitch with injury before the game was up.
And, where he could not find the net at one end, it was a Fulham defender who scored first with a true striker's finish around the half-hour mark. Bryan Ruiz's initial shot was blocked following a corner, but Bulgaria defender Bodurov clipped a fine follow-up shot into the top-right corner to give the Cottagers the lead.
The leaders looked set to take a one-goal deficit into the dressing rooms at the interval and regroup, but manager Steve McClaren had to tear up his half-time team talk as the hosts doubled their lead with just moments to play. As a Derby attack broke up at one end, Fulham broke towards the other. A strong run from McCormack down the right hand side created chaos in the visitors' defence, and the Scotsman was able to play the ball across the six-yard box for Woodrow to nod in the second.
The Rams improved in the second-half but, shorn of their attacking focal point in the injured Chris Martin, were unable to make their pressure count.
Bent saw another header miss the target, while Ryan Shotton also headed over the bar when well-placed from a corner. Tom Ince looked to inject some energy and urgency into the game, but saw an excellently-struck effort from range deflect over as the clock ticked down.
With Derby piling men forward the hosts continued to threaten on the counter and could have added to their advantage, McCormack wasting a one-on-one opportunity and Lee Grant almost putting through his own net following a poor backpass.
The result sees Fulham open up some breathing space between themselves and the relegation zone, with eight points now separating themselves and Millwall. Given the congested nature of this year's Championship table, meanwhile, the top half is only three points away despite the Cottagers sitting down in 19th place.
With Middlesbrough also slipping up at Sheffield Wednesday by the same scoreline, Derby retain their position at the top of the league. However, the gap between first and sixth remains just six points, with Ipswich and Norwich City facing off on Sunday.