Teddy Sheringham stepped off the bench to fire Manchester United into the Fourth Round of the FA Cup.
The England striker, out for four weeks with a hamstring injury, replaced Dwight Yorke late on before scoring a delightful last minute winner from 20 yards.
It was tough on Jean Tigana's Fulham, who had given the Premiership champions a more thorough examination than many of their league opponents this season.
With the excellent Louis Saha and the lightning quick Luis Boa Morte in attack, the First Division leaders gave United a torrid time on their return to the competition after their absence last season.
Had the Fulham attacking duo matched their skillful build-up play with better finishing, Sir Alex Ferguson's side could have been dead and buried after an hour of play.
But the visitors survived the onslaught before assuming control, culminating in Sheringham's decisive late strike.
It had all begun so brightly for United, who were swept into a ninth minute lead by the deadly accurate finishing of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
With his back to goal, the Norwegian seized onto an error by Lee Clark before firing a first-time shot beyond the despairing dive of Maik Taylor.
But Fulham lost none of the composure which has set them apart as near-certainties for the First Division title.
On 24 minutes they drew level and in a five minute spell of dominance they might have scored three times.
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Fabrice Fernandes scores wonder goal
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When referee Rob Winter penalised Roy Keane for preventing a quick free kick by moving the ball forwards ten yards, Fabrice Fernandes ensured that United paid the full penalty by curling a delightful free kick into the corner of Raimond Van der Gouw's goal.
It was the spark for an amazing burst of confidence from the hosts. Moments after the goal, Boa Morte burst clear, but stumbled as he opted to turn onto his stronger left foot and the chance was lost.
A minute later, man-of-the-match Saha played an exquisite pass into the Portuguese striker's path, but Van der Gouw raced out quickly to block his progress.
Saha and Boa Morte soon combined again as the United defence struggled to cope, this time Boa Morte's pass was just too far ahead of the Frenchman.
It was the Cottagers' best spell in a game in which they more than matched the Premiership leaders.
They may have bowed out of the Cup, but it was a valuable learning experience for Fulham's tilt at the Premiership next season.
Fulham: Taylor, Brevett, Symons, Melville, Finnan, Clark,
Sahnoun, Goldbaek, Fernandes, Saha, Boa Morte (Stolcers 71).
Subs Not Used: Hahnemann, Neilson, Trollope, Lewis.
Booked: Boa Morte.
Goals: Fernandes 24.
Manchester Utd: Van Der Gouw, Silvestre, P Neville, G Neville,
Brown, Beckham (Chadwick 83), Butt (Wallwork 28), Keane, Giggs,
Yorke (Sheringham 75), Solskjaer.
Subs Not Used: Irwin, Rachubka.
Booked: Brown, Keane, P Neville.
Goals: Solskjaer 8, Sheringham 89.
Att: 19,178
Referee: J Winter (Stockton-on-Tees)