Malbranque hat-trick piles on frustration for ragged Charlton

Fulham 3 Charlton Athletic

Certainty is in short supply at Fulham this season, but as a return to their home at Craven Cottage becomes ever more remote there is one man, it seems, on whom the supporters can always rely: Steed Malbranque.

The French midfielder earned Fulham's passage to the FA Cup fifth round yesterday with a hat-trick that included two penalties at their temporary home of Loftus Road.

It took the £4.5m signing from Lyon, who plays like a veteran but is actually only 22, just half an hour of the second half to extend his side's reputation as cup performers this season, having won the Intertoto Cup final round and reached the third round of the Uefa Cup.

The home fans in a disappointingly low total of 12,203 had an opportunity to salute the dark and compact figure as he was substituted immediately after scoring his second penalty three minutes from time. Fulham's manager Jean Tigana explained afterwards that he had decided to substitute Malbranque 10 minutes earlier in order to keep him relatively fresh for what he sees as a crucial Premiership match against Manchester City on Wednesday.

Malbranque's final kick, driven high into the net, followed an almighty muddle in the Charlton defence which saw the captain Mark Fish earn a red card after hauling down Facundo Sava.

By then, Charlton had already lost heart after seeing a match they dominated for the first 45 minutes tipped against them through defensive errors. The first came in the 59th minute when Luis Boa Morte was allowed to run unhindered towards the Charlton box, finding Malbranque unmarked at the far post. A powerful cross-shot did the damage, leaving Charlton's stand-in left-back Paul Konchesky and midfielder Claus Jensen arguing over who should have marked the Frenchman.

Six minutes later Charlton's fans – many of them sporting red masks which mimicked the black one donned by Sava when he scores for Fulham – were silenced by a second goal for the home side after Boa Morte spun to the ground following a challenge in the corner of the area from Luke Young. Malbranque sent the keeper the wrong way from the spot.

''It was very disappointing,'' Charlton's manager, Alan Curbishley, said. "It's the second time we've turned up here, been the better side and come away with nothing.''

Curbishley was still clearly cringing at the chances his side had missed after establishing themselves in the game through the composure of the midfielder Scott Parker, who was being watched from the stands by the England manager Sven Goran Eriksson.

The former England Under-21 player can only have impressed the Swede. It was his measured cross in the 66th minute which created Charlton's best opportunity, offering Shaun Bartlett a free header from close range which he put straight at the keeper. Parker had also had a reasonable penalty claim turned down in the 53rd minute and later saw a shot cleared off the line by Martin Djétou.

As the match drew to a close, Charlton's fans, their masks red with frustration, resorted to taunting their hosts, chanting: "Fulham, Fulham, where's your ground?'' and: "Stand up, if you've got a ground.'' It was not a hard nerve to touch.

An article in the Fulham programme attempted to explain the difficulties entailed in redeveloping Craven Cottage, concluding: "The situation, of course, makes no commercial sense.'' Fulham's faithful have no option but to take each game as it comes, and for this one at least they were truly grateful.

Goals: Malbranque (59) 1-0; Malbranque pen (66) 2-0; Malbranque pen (87) 3-0.

Fulham (4-4-2); Taylor; Djétou (Knight, 84), Melville, Goma, Harley; Malbranque (Goldbaek, 87), Legwinski, Davis, Boa Morte; Marlet, Sava. Substitutes not used: Herrera (gk), Inamoto, Hammond.

Charlton Athletic (4-4-2): Kiely; Young (Fortune, 71), Rufus, Fish, Konchesky; Kishishev, Parker (Svensson, 76), Jensen (Bart-Williams, 71), Euell; Bartlett, Johansson. Substitutes not used: Rachubka (gk), Powell.

Referee: P Durkin (Dorset).

Bookings: Charlton: Jensen, Young, Konchesky. Sent off: Charlton: Fish.

Man of the match: Malbranque.

Attendance: 12,203.