Last season Charlton were the kings of the capital derby, but that record has receded into a hazy memory. Granted five fixtures against London opposition in their opening 10 games this term, Addicks fans may well have been contemplating an early assault on the top of the Premiership, but yesterday's hapless 1-0 reverse at Fulham was their fourth defeat in those five games and even avoiding relegation looks a distant prospect.

Charlton have scored just once in their last six games, and on yesterday's showing it is hard to believe they have even managed that. "You get games like this," their manager, Alan Curbishley, said. "Our turn's got to come."

After an early flurry in which Steve Marlet hit the bar and Facundo Sava headed just over, Charlton were the better side but fell behind to Sava's 36th-minute strike.

The Argentinian reacted first to poke home the rebound after Dean Kiely had pushed out Steed Malbranque's long-range drive, and celebrated by donning a Zorro mask that he had concealed in his sock – a low-key version of the wolf mask celebration that earned him the nickname Wolfman at his former club, Gimnasia la Plata.

However, there was no disguising Fulham's relief that they were not already behind. Set through by John Robinson's deft flick on five minutes, Jason Euell looked certain to score but dragged his left-foot shot wide. Later he could only curl a tame effort at Edwin van der Sar having found space well 12 yards out.

In the litany of Charlton profligacy, though, both those efforts paled into insignificance beside Shaun Bartlett's frozen-eyed panic at being gifted a chance in first-half injury time. Van der Sar, so often the rabbit in the headlights himself, bafflingly rolled the ball straight to Robinson, who knocked it inside to Bartlett. With all the time in the world, the striker dallied, froze, dallied some more, and, as the Dutch keeper challenged, laid the ball back square to Robinson. Surprised, the winger's touch was poor and his eventual effort was blocked by Van der Sar.

After the break, Euell put a free header over and Mark Fish drove wide, but again it was Bartlett who stole the honours for miss of the half. With seven minutes remaining he found himself completely unmarked eight yards from goal from Euell's pass, but somehow sidefooted his shot against the underside of the bar. A minute later, Van der Sar, who had hardly covered himself in glory, snaked out a left leg to deflect Bartlett's close-range header wide for a corner.

Fulham, as their manager Jean Tigana acknowledged, were "lucky", but he was keen to see the positives in a game in which his side looked jaded but demonstrated the grittiness that was lacking last year. "I am sure that last season we would have lost this game," he said. "But we did well, because we were tired after the Uefa Cup on Thursday."

Goals: Sava (36) 1-0.

Fulham (4-4-2): Van der Sar 6; Ouaddou 6, Knight 7, Melville 6, Brevett 7; Malbranque 7, Davis 6 (Womé 6, 66), Legwinski 7, Boa Morte 6 (Inamoto 6, 63); Marlet 7, Sava 7 (Hayles 6, 73). Substitutes not used: Taylor (gk), Collins.

Charlton Athletic (3-5-2): Kiely 5; Rufus 6, Fish 6, Powell 6; Young 5 (Johansson, 83), Konchesky 4 (Lisbie 5, 65), Jensen 5, Robinson 6, Mustoe 5; Bartlett 4, Euell 4. Substitutes not used: Rachubka (gk), Kishishev, Fortune.

Referee: J Winter (Stockton-on-Tees) 6.

Bookings: Fulham: Brevett. Charlton: Rufus, Euell.

Man of the match: Legwinski.

Attendance: 14,775.