Fulham’s unbeaten start to the season came to a grinding halt as they were undone 1-0 by Birmingham at Craven Cottage .
The Whites endured a meagre opening half which saw keeper David Button deny Clayton Donaldson from the penalty spot.
Whites defender Michael Madl then saw his marching orders shortly before the break, and Donaldson cashed in when he converted from 12 yards at the second attempt.
It left Slavisa Jokanovic’s men having to reflect on a poor restart after the international break.
The hosts were off to an ominous start when Madl was forced to recover smartly and block Donaldson’s shot after just two minutes.
In what was one of their best efforts of the game, Tom Cairney nearly put them in front with a deflected shot from the edge of the box which Tomasz Kuszczak did remarkably well to tip wide.
But on 25 minutes, Madl’s attempted block on former Sheffield United man Che Adams resulted in spot kick.
Craven Cottage was granted a brief reprieve when Button dived to his left to keep out the forward’s penalty, but it did not last long.
The Austrian was forced into the uncomfortable position of trying to beat Donaldson to the ball after a sloppy pass left him as the last defender.
His late tackle saw him receive his second yellow card - and walk for an early bath, just a minute before the break.
To compound matters, the Whites conceded a second penalty four minutes after half-time, when Floyd Ayite brought down Adams again after hesitation from both Button - who miscontrolled with the ball at his feet - and the Fulham defence, and Donaldson made no mistake from 12 yards.
Jokanovic threw deadline day signing Chris Martin on for the final 15 minutes, and he nearly made an instant impact when he slid Kebano through, before Malone curled an effort inches wide from the resulting cross.
Fulham made a push for an equaliser at the game's death, but it was the visitors who came closest to scoring again.
