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A fluke goal by Bobby Zamora helped Fulham to a 1-0 win over crisis-club Portsmouth in their opening fixture of the Premier League season at Fratton Park.

A mediocre first half saw the Whites enter half-time a goal to the good thanks to a lucky deflection off the back of Zamora, while the second half was little better and notable only for Fulham's solid defending under pressure and good chances missed by Pompey trio Younes Kaboul, Marc Wilson and David Nugent.

From kick-off Fulham played their hyper-organised but ultimately conservative passing game, while Pompey looked long at every opportunity.

The cash-strapped South Coast side's roster is so thin that hotel-row duo Wilson and Nugent were in the match squad, with Wilson starting at the back in the absence of replacements for Glen Johnson and Sol Campbell: veteran Iceland defender Hermann Hreidarsson sat out the game injured.

While new signing Frederic Piquionne looked bright and aggressive leading the line, Kaboul seemed clumsy and unused to playing at right-back and midfield playmaker Niko Kranjcar lacked the spark that saw him linked with Arsenal before getting injured last season.

Fulham, on the other hand, fielded the same starting XI that served them so well last season, with Simon Davies still injured but Zoltan Gera continuing in his place.

In the first meaningful move of the match, Andy Johnson took a quick throw that allowed Danny Murphy to turn and feed Clint Dempsey, whose shot was going on target but would have fizzed straight down the throat of David James had Zamora's back not intervened with a wicked deflection that sent the ball spinning into the bottom right.

Zamora was almost shipped to Hull earlier in the summer but within 13 minutes he had managed exactly half his goal tally for the previous season.

He should have equalled it five minutes later but, after a brilliant free-kick from Murphy found him unmarked at the far post, he powered the ball towards the roof of the net, which allowed the well-placed James to tip over when a downward header would have beaten him for sure.

Both sides laboured through the rest of the first half, with Pompey fashioning two half-chances: a Kranjcar corner evaded everyone to spin across the six-yard box and Piquionne's low, near-post effort from eight yards was too close to keeper Mark Schwarzer.

The second half was barely an improvement, although Portsmouth abandoned their long-ball approach and used their packed midfield to greater effect, while Fulham sat deeper and hit the hosts on the break.

Pompey almost levelled within two minutes of the restart after a slick passing move involving Piquionne and Papa Bouba Diop found Kaboul unmarked in the box, but the former Tottenham defender blasted over when he should have made Schwarzer work.

Johnson made his own bad miss on 64 minutes, firing well wide when given a free shot at goal after Zamora's cross was missed by Sylvain Ditsin to land at his feet.

Three minutes later, Pompey debutant Aaron Mokoena was lucky to stay on the pitch after a studs-up tackle on Dickson Etuhu but ref Martin Atkinson only showed the South African yellow.

Pompey cranked up the pressure in the final quarter hour but they could not make it pay thanks to a combination of resilient defending from Fulham and some poor finishing.

With seven minutes left, Kaboul headed low and wide from a Nadir Belhadj corner when he had ghosted unmarked and should have scored.

The hosts had a penalty appeal waved away when a Hayden Mullins shot was blocked by Aaron Hughes while Wilson fired the rebound wide from inside the Fulham box.

Nugent, expected to leave the club after failing to settle since moving from Preston and fighting with Wilson in pre-season, came on as a substitute but his lack of finishing at the highest level was revealed once more when he hammered over from close range after fellow late entrant Kanu wreaked havoc in the Fulham box.

Fulham held on for a rare away win while Portsmouth, who cannot sign any players until a proposed takeover is complete, desperately need to add to a squad that currently looks relegation fodder.

Reda Maher / Eurosport