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Fulham narrowly shaded an entertaining first half at Craven Cottage - thanks to a U-turn from referee Andy D'Urso.
Brian McBride and Luke Moore finished slick moves within the first half hour before Mark Delaney's foul on Tomasz Radzinski gave Fulham the chance to snatch the lead.
D'Urso had initially decided it was not a penalty but upon seeing a flag from the linesman at the far side he changed his mind and Heidar Helguson coolly outwitted Thomas Sorensen from the spot.
Fulham made just one change for their Barclays Premiership clash against Aston Villa with Carlos Bocanegra starting in the centre of defence.
Alain Goma, who featured alongside Zat Knight in the 3-2 Boxing Day defeat by Chelsea, dropped out of the squad with Niclas Jensen plugging the gap on the bench.
Goalkeeper Mark Crossley overcame his hamstring injury to retain the number one jersey while striker Collins John was included among the substitutes once again.
Villa were unchanged after thumping Everton 4-0 on Monday night with England Under-21 international James Milner shaking off a hamstring injury to take his place in the starting line-up.
Kick-off was delayed by five minutes following a late switch of referees with fourth official Andy D'Urso replacing Richard Beeby and when play began it was Fulham who made the brighter start.
Brian McBride used his physical presence to threaten at a Tomasz Radzinski corner and Radzinski then teed-up Heidar Helguson only for the Icelandic striker to misread his teammate's intentions.
Villa should have taken the lead in the ninth minute but Luke Moore blasted his shot over the bar from close range after an eye-catching run from Milner.
Fulham showed how it was done three minutes later with Luis Boa Morte winning the ball and feeding Radzinski who dashed forward before crossing to McBride who nodded home.
Villa tried to make instant amends but Steven Davis' shot was blocked by right back Dean Leacock before Wilfred Bouma's promising effort was deflected for a corner.
Left-back Liam Rosenior was enjoying a lively start, following up his impressive display against Chelsea with some useful work in attack and defence, but it was the lively Radzinski who was pulling the strings for the home side.
Villa's defence was struggling to cope with Fulham's movement but it was the home side who were carved open in the 29th minute with Milan Baros cutting inside and threading a perfect pass to Luke Moore, who fired home.
Controversy reigned as Fulham crept back in front four minutes later with Mark Delaney bringing down Radzinski in the area - only for D'Urso to wave play on.
But his assistant on the far side felt he had seen enough to give the penalty and D'Urso performed a u-turn, pointing to the spot and Helguson sent Thomas Sorensen the wrong way with his kick.
Villa were denied their second equaliser when Gavin McCann hit the right post and the match was finely poised going into half time with both teams creating chances.
HT: Fulham 2 Aston Villa 1
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