Portsmouth were dominating against a very shaky-looking Fulham side, who needed French defender Jerome Bonnissel to come to their rescue with a goal-line clearance from Dejan Stefanovic’s header and big Dutch goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar saved at the feet of Nigerian striker Yakubu Ayegbini.

Saha turned the game dramatically around after half an hour, with two goals in as many minutes, the first a thumping drive from just inside the penalty area - the club’s 100th Premiership goal – and the second a bullet header from inside the six yard box.

To add insult to injury for Pompey, Patrik Berger saw red for foul and abusive language in the 82nd minute.

Portsmouth came to Loftus Road on the back of their 6-1 thrashing of Leeds a fortnight ago but while goals were easy to come by at home, they had gone more than five and a half hours since their last away strike when skipper Teddy Sheringham scored at Arsenal on September 13.

That drought almost ended when the home team needed a goal-line clearance from Bonnissel to keep them in the game in the 16th minute.

Berger curled in a corner from the right and defender Stefanovic’s powerful downward header from eight yards was heading inside the far post until Bonnissel blocked it with his chest.

Fulham were lucky to escape again in the 21st minute when some dreadful defending let in Ayegbini. Released by Steve Stone’s chip forward, the striker was in plenty of space on the right edge of the area, but he delayed his shot and van der Sar saved at his feet.

Then, totally against the run of play, Fulham turned the game on its head with two goals in as many minutes – both scored by Saha.

On the half hour Berger conceded a free kick on the Fulham right for a foul on Moritz Volz and when the ball was lofted into the box it was never properly cleared. A header down by Hayden Foxe fell right for Saha to smash it home from 16 yards – Fulham’s 100th Premiership goal.

Two minutes later Lee Clark crossed from the right and Saha nipped ahead of Foxe on the six yard line to power home a header, his eighth goal of the season.

That was really game over, and the second half was not much of a spectacle, with the quality of passing pretty poor by Premiership standards. You had to feel a little sorry for Sheringham, as he looked too good for some of his team-mates.

Redknapp reshuffled as he sent on Matt Taylor and Alexei Smertin, then Deon Burton, but the visitors were never going to score three times and secure that elusive win on the road.

Saha was not match fit and he made way after 69 minutes for Facundo Sava, but by then he had earned his win bonus.

Sava almost completed the victory with a header from Clark’s cross after 79 minutes which crashed against the bar, but it mattered not to Fulham boss Chris Coleman who was relieved to see his team back on track.

The game ended in controversy in the 82nd minute as from nowhere referee Alan Wiley produced a red card for Berger – presumably for something he said after seeing his team denied a penalty as Ayegbini went down under a Zat Knight challenge.