But while Eagles boss Iain Dowie was left to bask in the glory of a deserved triumph which lifts considerable pressure off his shoulders, his opposite number at Fulham Chris Coleman will be fuming – with Ian Pearce the source of his anger.

The Cottagers centre-back was sent off just five minutes into the match for pulling back Johnson when the Palace striker was clean through on goal and the red card saw Coleman’s side under the cosh for the rest of the match.

They rarely troubled Eagles goalkeeper Gabor Kiraly and were forced to defend for long spells as Dowie’s side poured forward in search of the win which had eluded them in their seven Premiership outings before tonight.

Johnson – who joined Nicolas Anelka in third place as the Premiership’s highest scorer – provided the opener while Finland midfielder Riihilahti put the result beyond doubt with little over 20 minutes to go.

Palace should have been out of sight by half-time after creating a glut of chances but Johnson, Michael Hughes and Joonas Kolkka were all guilty of wayward finishing and Dowie will be concerned by the wasted chances.

Fulham were carved wide open with just two minutes on the clock when a beautifully weighted ball from Hughes found Johnson who slipped past Zat Knight only to then smash his shot straight into the legs of Edwin van der Sar.

Johnson failed to make any impact with the rebound and Palace threatened again moments later when a cross from Kolkka was nodded across the face of goal by Wayne Routledge as another great chance went begging.

Fulham’s shaky opening spell went from bad to worse when Pearce was shown his red card by referee Mike Riley for a dreadful blunder.

The 30-year-old centre-back – signed from West Ham in January – under-hit his back pass to van der Sar and, realising his error as Johnson raced onto the ball with an open path to the goal before him, he tugged the Palace marksman to the floor.

Luis Boa Morte went down in the home side’s six-yard box following a marauding run only for Riley to wave play on but Palace missed a far more convincing chance in the 24th minute when Riihilahti flashed a header inches wide.

Johnson found Hughes with a fine pass but the Northern Ireland midfielder was unable to control the ball while Johnson rushed a shot soon after as Palace continued to heap the pressure on.

Routledge looked lively down the left, pushing a shot wide of the left post before supplying a pass to Johnson which the striker nodded over the bar following close attention from Knight.

Knight hammered a 30-yard free-kick into the wall as Fulham enjoyed a rare raid into enemy territory and Coleman’s men then nearly edged ahead but Kiraly’s diving save kept out a superb long-range drive from Steed Malbranque.

The Cottagers’ ascendancy was only brief, however, as Palace created another magnificent opportunity which Johnson squandered with a dreadful header that should have at least been on target.

Danny Granville teed-up Ben Watson soon after the restart but his effort failed to trouble van der Sar before a deadly cross from Routledge slipped beyond the reach of Kolkka.

Palace had begun the second half in the same manner they finished the first and their domination eventually paid off in the 52nd minute when Johnson smashed home his fifth goal of the season.

Midfielder Riihilahti did the damage by expertly slipping the ball past Fulham’s rearguard to Johnson who had timed his run to perfection and the former Birmingham trainee drew van der Sar before finding the far corner.

Not content to sit back on their lead, Palace went in search of a second and were nearly rewarded when Routledge squared across the face off goal only for Moritz Volz to intercept the ball with players queuing up at the far post.

They could not be denied in the 68th minute though when a Routledge corner was met by Riihilahti and the Finland international leapt high above Fulham’s defence and headed past a despairing swipe from van der Sar.

The 21,825 crowd screamed for a penalty after Johnson fell to the ground following a challenge from Boa Morte but Riley was unimpressed and the Palace striker was then culpable of a glaring miss.

He was put one-on-one with van der Sar only to blast his shot into the advertising boards from 12 yards out.

But Palace had already done enough for victory and an almighty cheer erupted when Riley blew the final whistle.