Crystal Palace 2 Fulham 0: Milivojevic Schlupp strike as Batshuayi makes debut
Captain Milivojevic netted his seventh top-flight goal of the season from the penalty spot midway through the first half.
Even though Palace had to wait for a second, they were in control throughout as Fulham fell to their eighth straight loss in a Premier League London derby and failed build on Tuesday's 4-2 win over Brighton and Hove Albion.
Roy Hodgson had the luxury of leaving deadline-day signing Batshuayi on the bench until the 82nd minute, but the striker still had enough time to play a part in Schlupp's late clincher, as Palace won for the first time in four league games.
FULL-TIME Crystal Palace 2-0 Fulham
Luka Milivojevic and Jeffrey Schlupp secure an important 3 points for Palace#CRYFUL pic.twitter.com/wGMmdZVH98
— Premier League (@premierleague) February 2, 2019
Aleksandar Mitrovic failed to take a golden early chance, sending a free header wide from six yards after being found by Joe Bryan's delivery.
That proved costly when Palace took a 25th-minute lead from the penalty spot. Cyrus Christie's handball while climbing to challenge Christian Benteke – who made his first start since September – gave Michael Oliver an easy decision, and Milivojevic found the net despite Sergio Rico getting a hand on his effort.
With half-time approaching, Benteke almost marked his return to the team with a goal when he sent an overhead kick off the crossbar having been picked out by Andros Townsend
Rico made key second-half saves from Jordan Ayew and Schlupp, while Mamadou Sakho sent a header off target as Palace sought a deserved second goal.
That arrived with three minutes remaining when Batshuayi drew a fine save from Rico, allowing Schlupp to convert the close-range rebound as Palace cruised to victory, with Fulham failing to register a single shot on target in the contest.