Wolves were denied a potentially vital victory in their battle to beat the drop as substitute Andrew Johnson earned Fulham a point at Molineux.
The hosts, who went into the game lying bottom of the Barclays Premier League, went 1-0 up in the 22nd minute when Steven Fletcher headed in a cross from skipper Karl Henry.
Cottagers boss Mark Hughes was sent to the stands in the second half after reacting angrily to a booking for Brede Hangeland, but his team equalised with 10 minutes to go through Johnson, who had come on just seconds earlier.
The result meant Wolves moved off the foot of the table to 19th, but they will be cursing their inability to hold out for all three points.
Mick McCarthy's team were on the ropes in the opening moments as a fierce shot from Carlos Salcido brought a diving save out of Wayne Hennessey.
Moussa Dembele then tried a speculative effort from distance that sailed well over.
Next up was Clint Dempsey, cutting into box after being fed by Steve Sidwell, but the American could not get his shot on target.
| Match Stats |
Wolves |
Fulham |
| Goals |
1 |
1 |
 |
| Scorers |
Fletcher 22 |
A Johnson 80 |
|
| Possession |
42% |
58% |
| Goal attempts |
11 |
19 |
| On Target |
4 |
5 |
| Passing Success |
66.8% |
81.4% |
| Tackles |
14 |
17 |
| Tackles Success |
85.7% |
82.4% |
| Corners |
3 |
5 |
| Off-sides |
3 |
3 |
| Saves |
4 |
3 |
| Fouls |
17 |
20 |
| Yellows |
2 |
2 |
| Reds |
0 |
0 |
| source: Soccernet/SkySports |
Dempsey then missed Fulham's best chance yet, putting the ball over from the edge of the six-yard box after stretching to meet Salcido's cross.
It was not until the 21st minute that Wolves made their first real attempt at goal as Adlene Guedioura's header deflected wide.
Seconds later, though, they had the lead as Fletcher rose to nod in Henry's delivery.
Wolves appealed for a penalty when Richard Stearman fell in the box under a challenge from Dempsey, but the assistant referee ruled that the defender had been offside.
The hosts continued to press, although both Guedioura and Jamie O'Hara showed a lack of composure in unleashing wild shots that went nowhere near Mark Schwarzer's goal.
Dempsey struck narrowly wide and moments later the forward teed up Simon Davies, who failed to connect with the ball properly.
In first-half stoppage time O'Hara turned in the area and hit an effort the wrong side of the post.
Wolves had a scare soon after the restart when Hennessey flapped at a cross from Chris Baird, but Henry was there to avert the danger with Dembele lurking.
Two minutes later Wolves were on the attack and Guedioura sent a low drive at Schwarzer, who dived to catch it.
Eidur Gudjohnsen, making his first Fulham start, was allowed to wriggle through, but the Icelander could only scoop his shot over.
Fulham captain Danny Murphy - booed by the home crowd with every touch of the ball due to his comments earlier in the season about Wolves and dangerous tackling - had already been involved in a skirmish with Henry.
It was the Cottagers' manager who failed to control himself in the 56th minute, though, after Hangeland had been shown a yellow card for a challenge on Fletcher.
Hughes was incensed by the decision and his remonstrations with the officials led to him being sent to the stand by referee Michael Oliver.
Gudjohnsen picked out Dempsey, who miscued his shot, before hooking an effort of his own over the bar after Hennessey had only been able to palm a cross to him.
Gudjohnsen was then substituted for Bobby Zamora, with Gael Kakuta also coming on in place of Murphy.
Kakuta shot wide before Fletcher twice fired in for Wolves, one going off target and Schwarzer saving the other.
That was the Scotland striker's last contribution as he was replaced by Sylvan Ebanks-Blake, and Hughes made a further change by introducing Johnson for Dempsey in the 79th minute.
Moments after Johnson took to the field, Zamora tussled with Christophe Berra for a ball into the box and it fell to the former Everton man, who dispatched a shot past Hennessey and into the net.
Ebanks-Blake missed with a header five minutes from the end, but it was Fulham who might have snatched victory at the death, Kakuta bringing a save out of Hennessey and then striking wide.
McCarthy upbeat over survival chances
Wolves boss Mick McCarthy remains convinced his side will beat the drop despite seeing them denied victory over Fulham by Andrew Johnson's late equaliser at Molineux.
''Everybody is predicting what it is or isn't going to take,'' McCarthy said. ''I predict maybe one point or one goal better off than three others - and we can still do it.
''Every point is hard to get - Fulham are a good side. I think other teams could have gone on and got beaten in that game having conceded how we did and that late on. But we haven't, so we'll take the point, take the positives and keep going with five more games to play. There will be no defeatists here or negativity at all.''
McCarthy played down suggestions he had set a target of nine more points from the run-in.
''Three wins would be lovely, but I'm not so sure it will take that,'' he said. ''You tell me all the teams out of the bottom three that are going to get those two or three wins, and where they are going to come from.
''I don't know, so I'm not going to put pressure on our lot by saying we need three wins. We don't - we just need one point more than three others. Who knows where that will come from, but I still think we will get it.''
Before Johnson levelled, Fulham manager Mark Hughes was sent to the stands by referee Michael Oliver after remonstrating with the match officials.
Hughes was incensed by Oliver's decision to book Brede Hangeland for a challenge on Fletcher, although he joked he may have been given his marching orders for his inability to take out his frustrations on a bottle, which he tried to kick but missed.
''I was disappointed because I felt Brede had won the ball,'' Hughes said. ''The referee interpreted it in a different way and saw it fit to book my player for a challenge I thought was fair, so that is why I reacted.
''Probably the fourth official played a part in my dismissal and it was for missing the bottle I was aiming at three times - that was poor play from my point of view!''
Hughes subsequently made changes which paid dividends, with Bobby Zamora - on for Eidur Gudjohnsen - tussling with Christophe Berra for a ball into the box which fell to Johnson, teeing up him up to score.
''I won't take any credit for that - I'm just trying to make a difference,'' Hughes said. ''Obviously AJ (Johnson) was ready to go on and make an impact, and Bobby and Gael (Kakuta) were the same.
''That's what you want when you make changes and Bobby used his physical presence in a key area of the field, then AJ - who had been on for about 18 seconds - did exactly what I hoped he would do.
''It's great for him because he has just lacked goals of late and that is the only thing that has been missing from his performances. That goal will do him the power of good.''
Wolverhampton Hennessey, Stearman, Craddock, Berra, Ward, Guedioura (Kightly 85), Henry, O'Hara, Jarvis, Milijas (Mancienne 59), Fletcher (Ebanks-Blake 77).
Subs Not Used: Hahnemann, Vokes, Hammill, Foley.
Booked: Stearman, Craddock.
Goals: Fletcher 22.
Fulham Schwarzer, Baird, Hughes, Hangeland, Salcido, Davies, Sidwell, Murphy (Kakuta 69), Dempsey (Johnson 79), Gudjohnsen (Zamora 69), Dembele.
Subs Not Used: Stockdale, Kelly, Etuhu, Greening.
Booked: Baird(46,f), Hangeland (56,f).
Goals: Johnson 80 (right-footed shot into bottom-left of goa) from left side of penalty area
18 yards out. Assist (pass) by Bobby Zamora from left side of penalty area.)
Att: 28,825
Ref: Michael Oliver (Northumberland).