Fulham took control of their Championship play-off semi-final as super goals from Josh Onomah and Neeskens Kebano earned them a 2-0 first-leg win at Cardiff.
Onomah struck in the second half and Kebano added a second via a free-kick in stoppage-time to earn dominant Fulham victory in South Wales, leaving Cardiff with a lot of work to do to if they want to reach the play-off final at Wembley - which is a 7.45pm kick-off on Tuesday, August 4.
In a cagey first half it was Cardiff who went closest on 13 minutes. Leandro Bacuna hit a stinging drive that was kept out by Marek Rodak, but Michael Hector did brilliantly on his own goal line to get ahead of Robert Glatzel and deny the striker the opportunity to turn home the rebound.
Fulham, who were missing Golden Boot-winning striker Aleksandar Mitrovic, looked to be lacking a little cutting edge early on, but there were no signs of that just after half-time as Onomah scored a quite wonderful opener.
Picking up the ball from Harrison Reed on the edge of the area. He turned Marlon Pack, glided past Sean Morrison and then shimmied away from Curtis Nelson before slotting low into the bottom corner.
Cardiff simply couldn't find a leveller after that as Fulham squeezed them out of the game, dominating possession and not giving their hosts a sniff of a chance. And they may have taken the tie beyond their opponents in the first minute of stoppage time as Kebano netted his third free-kick in as many games, swinging an effort over the wall and beyond the helpless Alex Smithies from the edge of the box.
Picking up the ball from Harrison Reed on the edge of the area. He turned Marlon Pack, glided past Sean Morrison and then shimmied away from Curtis Nelson before slotting low into the bottom corner.
Cardiff simply couldn't find a leveller after that as Fulham squeezed them out of the game, dominating possession and not giving their hosts a sniff of a chance. And they may have taken the tie beyond their opponents in the first minute of stoppage time as Kebano netted his third free-kick in as many games, swinging an effort over the wall and beyond the helpless Alex Smithies from the edge of the box.
Cardiff City: Smithies; Bacuna, Morrison, Nelson, Bennett; Pack, Ralls; Mendez-Laing (Murphy 70), Tomlin, Hoilett (Vaulks 70); Glatzel (Ward 70).
Subs: Etheridge, Sanderson, Flint, Bamba, Smith, Paterson.
Fulham: Rodak; Christie, Hector, Ream, Bryan; Onomah, Reed, Cairney; Knockaert (Kamara 81), Kebano (Odoi 90), Decordova-Reid.
Subs: Betinelli, Mawson, Sessegnon, Odoi, Le Marchand, McDonald, Johansen, Jasper.
Referee: Geoff Eltringham