Danny Murphy struck the decisive goal in the 57th minute, driving home Andrew Johnson’s superb pull-back for the club captain’s third goal of the season.

Johnson had a late penalty appeal rejected after tumbling beneath defender Behrang Safari’s tackle and the England striker was lively throughout.

Fulham manager Roy Hodgson fielded his second string for the draw with CSKA Sofia but named virtually his strongest available line-up tonight.

For a club that has not prioritised European competition, Fulham have made a promising start to their campaign with four points from two matches including this creditable victory over Basle.

The Swiss team arrived at Craven Cottage with a fine European pedigree and will be wondering how they failed to finish with a point after Marco Streller and Benjamin Huggel missed two sitters.

The result, combined with CSKA’s defeat by Roma, means Fulham top Group E.

Unfortunately, however, only 16,100 supporters turned up to watch – well below the 25,678 capacity – and many of those were supplied by Basle’s noisy travelling contingent.

Fulham entered the match without a replacement keeper on the bench after they failed to have Pascal Zuberbuhler registered for the match.

Injuries to David Stockdale and their two B-list keepers forced Fulham to seek special dispensation to have Zuberbuhler, a former Basle favourite, included but it was rejected by European football’s governing body.

Panic reigned in Fulham’s defence early on when Safari easily rounded Stephen Kelly and set up Frei but the Switzerland international’s scuffed shot drifted wide.

Moments later Johnson pounced on a mistake by Serkan Sahin, drifted inside with a turn of pace and fired just inches wide of the right post.

Basle had stated before the game they intended leaving Craven Cottage with the second win of their Europa League campaign and their ambition was evident on the pitch.

Fulham were having problems containing their slick passing game and they should have fallen behind when Streller expertly found Huggel only for the veteran midfielder to blaze over from close range.

Murphy sent a free-kick over the cross bar as Fulham began to do a better job of retaining possession.

After their early flurry, the tempo of Basle’s game had dropped noticeably and they became less of a threat in the final third.

Keeper Franco Costanzo snatched the ball from Johnson’s feet on the stroke of half-time, forcing the Fulham striker to slip, but referee Michael Weiner ignored the ensuing claims for a penalty.

The opening 10 minutes of the second half saw lots of passing from both sides with little end effect until Clint Dempsey blasted narrowly wide.

But the deadlock was broken in the 57th minute when Kelly released Johnson who sped to the byline before cutting back to the edge of the area where an unmarked Murphy powered home.

Their tails up, Fulham began attacking with greater precision and numbers with one dangerous ball by Bjorn Helge Riise cleared by David Abraham as Jonathan Greening was waiting to pounce.

Johnson was tripped by Safari as he raced into the area and shook his head as Weiner refused to give a penalty.

Streller missed a glorious chance to equalise from seven yards out with eight minutes to go, allowing Fulham to cling onto all three points.