Stephen Warnock rescued a deserved point for Blackburn with a late equaliser.

But Rovers suffered a blow when they lost Benni McCarthy, who limped out with a gashed knee.

Danny Murphy put Fulham ahead from the spot - after Ryan Nelsen had brought down Diomansy Kamara - but Emerton responded in emphatic fashion.

A well-worked move saw Kamara fire the Cottagers ahead for a second time only for Warnock to pounce 12 minutes from time.

Fulham will complain about the offside in the build-up to Emerton's goal but Sanchez's time would be better spent addressing his side's defensive frailties.

Once again they crumbled late on and Sanchez needs to start turning the club's flurry of draws into wins if he is to silence speculation over his future.

Blackburn manager Mark Hughes opted to rest Roque Santa Cruz after the Paraguay striker returned late from international duty, leaving McCarthy to spearhead the attack.

But the move backfired when McCarthy was caught by a lunging challenge from Dejan Stefanovic that struck the South African marksman.

After lengthy treatment, McCarthy was helped from the pitch in the sixth minute and he looked in considerable discomfort as Jason Roberts came on to replace him.

The damage was not as bad as first feared, however, with a cut knee the diagnosis for his injury.

The game desperately needed a goal and it arrived five minutes after the interval through Murphy from the spot.

Rovers skipper Nelsen made a clumsy tackle on Kamara on the edge of the area and referee Mike Dean signalled for a penalty which Murphy stroked home.

Murphy could have been on spot-kick duty again shortly after but Dean was unimpressed by appeals for Andre Ooijer's handball.

Blackburn should have equalised when Pedersen escaped Fulham's defence and enjoyed a free header from six yards out, but amazingly the Norwegian winger nodded wide.

Emerton succeeded where Pedersen had failed in the 57th minute, however, to level the score.

The menacing Warnock picked out Roberts whose header flew backwards and straight to the feet of Emerton who fired his first Premier League goal of the season.

Replays showed Roberts was offside when Pedersen crossed but the anger of Fulham fans did not last long as six minutes later their side were back in front.

Murphy picked out Davies on the right of the area and the Wales midfielder had time to feed Kamara, who had floated in unmarked to the far post.

The Senegal hitman made no mistake from close range, stabbing the ball home for his third Cottagers goal.

Emerton almost caught Fulham napping after Pedersen had forced a great save from Niemi before Cottagers substitute Shefki Kuqi was kept out by Friedel at the other end.

Kuqi was left to rue Friedel's reactions as in the 79th minute Blackburn equalised for a second time, Roberts finding Warnock who took full advantage of some dire defending to find the net.

Both sides pushed for the winner, setting up a dramatic finale to an entertaining second half, but the breakthrough never came.