David McGoldrick came off the bench to score the decisive goal as Town beat Fulham 2-1 in their opening day fixture at Portman Road. McGoldrick added to Daryl Murphy’s first-half goal in the 61st minute with Tim Hoogland pulling one back late on for the visitors.
Mick McCarthy handed Hungarian frontman Bajner his debut alongside Murphy, while Elliott Hewitt was at right midfield with Jay Tabb on the left and Luke Hyam and Cole Skuse in the centre.
At the back, skipper Luke Chambers retained his right-back position with Tyrone Mings at left-back and Tommy Smith and Christophe Berra at the centre of the backline. Dean Gerken was in goal.
McCarthy named no defenders on a bench which included strikers David McGoldrick, Frank Nouble and Jack Marriott.
Fulham included eight debutants in their starting line-up, including £11 million striker Ross McCormack.
Despite the Cottagers enjoying most of the early possession, the Blues were first to threaten in the fifth minute. A freekick on the left was played short to Mings, who whipped over a cross but Fulham debutant keeper Jesse Joronen superbly tipped over.
After the resultant corner had been cleared, Skuse left the ball to Hyam, who hit a low shot across the face of goal and wide.
Chris David wasted a good opportunity for the visitors in the 11th minute when he scraped well wide of the post from the edge of the box after Hoogland had broken strongly from the back.
The Blues went close again in the 17th minute when Hewitt aimed a long throw from the right towards Bajner. The ball defected out to Skuse on the edge of the box and the former Bristol City man smashed a shot only just over Joronen’s bar.
There was a big scare for the Blues in the 25th minute when Gerken spilled David’s 20-yard shot. But, having made the initial error, the keeper reacted brilliantly to block Moussa Dembele’s close-range rebound.
Fulham continued to enjoy significantly more of the ball but just after the half hour Skuse again went close, this time with a looping 25-yard effort which went a couple of yards beyond Joronen’s right post.
And two minutes later the Blues went in front. Hyam won the ball and burst through the middle before finding Murphy, who left Whites centre-half Shaun Hutchinson standing as he took the ball into the area and hit a right-foot strike which beat Joronen.
Soon after the restart goalscorer Murphy curled another effort wide after good work Mings. On 37 Hyam got his name in referee Stephen Martin’s book for a late tackle on Dembele.
As the half moved into its final five minutes Town continued to threaten, the previously quiet Bajner winning a couple of Hewitt’s dangerous long throws into the area.
On 42 Emerson Hyndman misjudged a long ball down the middle, causing Hutchinson to make a desperate clearance which cannoned off Bajner which, fortunately for the home side, flew through to Joronen.
Two minutes later, after David had shot over for the Cottagers, Bajner was replaced by McGoldrick, returning to competitive action for the first time since suffering a knee injury in February.
Fulham will have counted themselves unfortunate to have gone in behind after a half which they had controlled for the most part.
However, aside from Dembele’s opportunity handed to them by Gerken’s error, the visitors hadn’t created too many chances.
Prior to Murphy’s well-taken goal, only an excellent save from Joronen had prevented Berra from opening the scoring, while Skuse and Hyam might have done better with efforts from the edge of the box.
Fulham replaced midfielder David with Thomas Eisfeld, a summer signing from Arsenal, ahead of the second half.
Late first-half sub McGoldrick was quickly into the thick of the action, cleverly finding himself space on the edge of the area but Hutchinson blocked his shot.
On 48 Hewitt blazed high from distance, having been found by Hyam, when feeding Chambers to his right would have been a better option.
Three minutes later, Fulham left back Konstantinos Stafylidis hammered a powerful strike just over Gerken’s bar, the Blues having made heavy weather of getting the ball out of their final third following an earlier attack.
The game returned to the pattern of the first half with the visitors having most of the ball but without particularly threatening Town’s lead. McGoldrick’s introduction had improved the Blues’ quality on the ball.
Three minutes before the hour mark the largely peripheral McCormack was replaced to chants of ‘what a waste of money’ from the home fans.
McGoldrick felt he ought to have been awarded a penalty in the 59th minute when he appeared to be hauled back as he looked to beat two defenders and break into the area on the left, but referee Martin was unimpressed with his appeals. A minute later, the Blues striker lashed a freekick from distance well over.
But the 26-year-old only had to wait another minute for his first goal since his return from injury.
Murphy did well to hold off Hutchinson on the left before cutting across the edge of the six-yard box towards Tabb. The ball was stabbed away from the midfielder but only as far as McGoldrick, who confidently hit a low shot into the net from 18 yards before hopping away in away in celebration.
Joronen claimed Tabb's header from the edge of the box on 69, a corner having been half-cleared to the midfielder on the edge of the box. A minute later, Anthony Wordsworth replaced Skuse in the Town midfield.
Town had been well on top since scoring their second goal but the visitors threatened to pull one back in the 78th minute when sub Patrick Roberts found Eisfeld with a clever pass, but Chambers did well to block.
Wordsworth should have made it 3-0 in the 80th minute after Chambers had tricked his way into space in which to cross from the right. The Town skipper sent over the perfect cross, but Wordsworth headed over from six yards.
Mings was booked for a foul on 81 and from the resultant freekick taken by Stafylidis the Blues’ left-back blocked from sub Cauley Woodrow. Moments later, Hyam made way for Kevin Bru, Town’s second debutant of the day.
The Mauritian international was quickly involved in the game but was caught in possession as he looked to pass as the Blues broke after a Fulham corner.
In the 85th minute, Tabb found McGoldrick with a quickly taken freekick on the left but the striker’s shot failed to trouble Joronen.
A minute later, the visitors pulled a goal back. Hoogland cut in from the right and hit a shot which deflected off Smith, past Gerken and into the net. Not long after, Berra picked up Town’s third booking of the afternoon.
The Cottagers continued to press in the closing stages with the Blues failing to settle after their substitutions. Lively sub Roberts first shot wide, then as the game moved into its penultimate scheduled minute hit an effort which fortunately for Town deflected to Gerken.
Fulham kept pushing for the equaliser during four minutes of injury time but the Blues weren’t to be denied an opening day victory.
While the visitors had had most of the ball for the much of the game, Town had created more of the game’s better chances with Murphy and McGoldrick both confidently taking their best opportunities.
Once the Blues had gone 2-0 in front, the match looked to be over - Wordsworth ought to have made it three - until Fulham’s late rally and Hoogland’s goal. But Town dug in and claimed their first three-point haul of the campaign.
Town: Gerken, Chambers (c), Mings, Berra, Smith, Skuse (Wordsworth 70), Hyam (Bru 81), Tabb, Hewitt, Bajner (McGoldrick 44), Murphy. Subs: Bialkowski, Henshall, Marriott, Nouble.
Fulham: Joronen, Hoogland, Stafylidis, Hutchinson (Roberts 74), Bodurov, Parker (c), Dembele, Hyndman, David (Eisfeld 46), Burgess, McCormack (Woodrow 57). Subs: Bettinelli, Rodallega. Referee: Stephen Martin (Staffordshire). Att: 17,218 (Fulham: 1,539).