The Icelandic international pounced from close range to stab the ball home in the twelvth minute after Fulham goalkeeper Tony Warner had mishandled a long throw in by Wanderers full back Nicky Hunt.

West London was awash with torrential rain and these bad conditions seemed to suit the home side within the first half an hour as they had the overall share of possession.

Bolton aside from the Helguson goal, had a half chance through midfielder Kevin Nolan in the seventh minute but the Wanderers skipper could not get enough on his acrobatic effort to beat Warner.

Nicolas Anelka also tried to test the former Millwall custodian after a good run down the channel but the experienced goalkeeper was once again alert to the danger.

After a succession of Fulham corners, Lawrie Sanchez team got themselves back into the game when former Preston North End and Manchester United striker Healy netted his second goal of the week on the turn after Bolton had failed to clear their lines in defence.

The Cottagers doubled their lead in the 27th minute when an Alexei Smertin shot from range took a wicked deflection off French defender Gerald Cid to confuse Jaaskelainen in the Bolton goal.

Healy was causing Bolton a lot of problems with his pace and at one point before the closure of the first half went down under a Wanderers challenge in the area but referee Lee Probert waved away the appeals.

Veteran Gary Speed and Diouf had half chances to get a Bolton equaliser just before the break but Fulham held on to maintain their advantage going into the interval.

Like in Saturday's game against Newcastle United, the Wanderers came out for the second half with much more potency about them but it was the hosts who had the first chance from the re-start when the experienced Brian McBride fired a glorious chance straight at Jaaskelainen following a Zat Knight free kick.

On 53 minutes Warner made yet another good save at the other end of the field from Anelka after the Frenchman had tried to curl the ball into the back of the net.

Soonafter, Helguson and Diouf linked up well in attack with the latter just firing the knockdown wide as Bolton looked to bring themselves back into the contest.

Norwegian Daniel Braaten came off the bench for Bolton in place of goalscorer Helguson for his Trotters debut and there was also another appearance for Mikel Alonso who stepped into the fray in place of Gavin McCann with the ex-Villa player just moments earlier having failed to connect with a Diouf set piece.

Giant defender Lubomir Michalik made his first appearance of the new season when replacing Jlloyd Samuel in stoppage time and the Slovakian nearly got on the scoresheet with his first touch.

Jaaskelainen came out of his goal to join the attack for one final throw of the dice for Bolton but referee Probert brought an end to the night's proceedings leaving the Wanderers still in search of their first points of the season.

Bolton must now hit the road again this weekend as they take on Portsmouth at Fratton Park and this will then be followed by two home games against Reading and Everton.

BOLTON WANDERERS: Jussi Jaaskelainen, Nicky Hunt, Abdoulaye Meite, Gerald Cid, Jlloyd Samuel (Lubomir Michalik), Kevin Nolan, Gavin McCann (Mikel Alonso), Gary Speed, El-Hadji Diouf, Heidar Helguson (Daniel Braaten), Nicolas Anelka

Subs Not Used: James Sinclair, Ali Al-Habsi (GK)

FULHAM: Tony Warner, Chris Baird, Zat Knight, Carlos Bocanegra, Paul Konchesky, Simon Davies, Alexei Smertin, Steven Davis, Hameur Bouazza (Clint Dempsey), Brian McBride, David Healy (Diomansy Kamara)

Subs Not Used: Moritz Volz, Papa Bouba Diop, Ricardo Batista (GK)

21,102

REFEREE:

Lee Probert

BOOKED:

Diouf (Bolton)

Konchesky (Fulham)

Bocanegra (Fulham)

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