Raul Jimenez’s penalty was enough for Fulham to get their Premier League season back on track with a hard-fought win at home to Nottingham Forest.
Jimenez’s spot-kick came deep into first-half stoppage time after Kevin was fouled by Douglas Luiz.
Forest threatened throughout the second half but were unable to continue their impressive recent form under Sean Dyche and move further away from the relegation zone.
The hosts, meanwhile, were able to bounce back from the disappointment of losing to Newcastle United in the Carabao Cup quarter-finals last week by moving up to 13th in the table.
Both sides were affected by absences at the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) and either could have taken the lead with the help of their Brazilian forwards, Kevin and Igor Jesus, as the game ebbed and flowed in front of the assistant manager of the five-time world champions, Paul Clement, who was in attendance at Craven Cottage.
Referee Anthony Taylor awarded Fulham a penalty in first-half stoppage time though when Luiz fouled Kevin.
Jimenez made no mistake with his side’s first spot-kick since January and sent John Victor the wrong way – despite the goalkeeper’s best efforts to put the forward off – to score his third Premier League goal of the campaign and hand his side the advantage at the break.
His spot-kick made it 11 out of 11 during his time in England and moved him level with former Manchester City midfielder Yaya Toure for the best conversion rate in Premier League history.
Forest returned for the second half with a renewed intensity, best displayed by two quickfire efforts from Neco Williams and Morgan Gibbs-White inside the opening five minutes.
But even after enjoying more of the ball in the opening 15 minutes of the second half, the visitors were still being restricted to efforts from range, with Murillo forcing a save from Bernd Leno seconds before Gibbs-White’s sighter whistled past the far post.
Jimenez could have added to his tally in the 84th minute but was unable to steer Kenny Tete’s cross on target after a silky move involving teenage substitute Josh King.
Fulham managed to hold on for victory to seal a sixth win in seven Premier League meetings against Forest.
Fulham analysis: Kevin shines in front of Brazil assistant
With manager Marco Silva without several of his key players because of international commitments, this was a huge victory for Fulham.
With Alex Iwobi, Calvin Bassey and Samuel Chukwueze spending the month representing Nigeria at Afcon, the Cottagers were missing a trio who had started a collective total of 34 out of a possible 48 games in the Premier League this season.
But when Kevin, making just his fourth start of the league campaign, raced past the Forest defence and whipped a delightful ball across the face of goal within the first 30 seconds, it was clear Fulham were out to show they were more than capable of securing victory in the absence of their key men.
On the night, it was the unpredictability of Kevin and the experience of left-back Antonee Robinson that spurred the Cottagers to victory.
Brazil youth international Kevin, who arrived from Shakhtar for a club record £34.6m in September, was lively throughout his 78 minutes of action before being replaced by King, with his trickery and close control drawing a foul from Luiz in first-half stoppage time to earn the decisive spot-kick for his side.
At 22 years old, it is only natural that the wide forward has plenty to learn and improve upon, his decision-making in particular, but this outing is one that will provide plenty of excitement for Fulham fans, particularly when they are without Chukwueze.
With Brazil’s assistant manager Clement in attendance, Kevin’s performance could give the national coaches something to think about before next summer’s World Cup.
In the meantime, he is likely to have plenty more opportunities to impress in the Premier League until Chukwueze returns from international duty.
