Festive cheer was in short supply at St James’ Park as Newcastle United failed to muster a single shot on target and drew 0-0 with bottom of the table Fulham on Saturday.

It was the first draw at home for the Magpies this season, and they will feel the visitors were there for the taking having headed to north-east England without a single clean sheet in the Premier League. But they could have left with all three points after a flurry of late chances.

Rafael Benitez admitted being frustrated at the mistakes which almost cost his side the game late on, but says there is also a sense of relief.

“I told the players that we have to win these games, but if you cannot win, don’t lose,” he said. “We made mistakes at the end and we could have lost. We had chances to win even if we didn’t have any shots on target.

“In the first half, everything they did came from our mistakes. In the second, the game was in our hands.

“Fulham are still the same distance away [in the table, seven points]. We had the chance to get further away but we have to take the positives.

“There is a sense of disappointment about 85 minutes and relief about the last five.”

Newcastle came into this game in high spirits after a win at Huddersfield last week, but having lost seven of nine home games this season, started tentatively. 

Fulham took the early initiative.

 Aleksandar Mitrovic was roundly booed on his return to Tyneside after his £27 million switch to west London in the summer, and he got in behind the hosts’ defence only moments in, only for his shot to be collected easily by Martin Dubravka.



It took some time, but Newcastle gradually grew into the game, with Ki Sung Yueng instrumental in their play as usual. 

Their first chance came and went when Fulham cleared Jamaal Lascelles’s knockdown from Ki’s free-kick before Ayoze Perez could tap home.



The game became scrappy as half-time approached, but Fulham were having the better of it. Jean-Michael Seri and Tom Cairney’s combination play with Mitrovic and Andre Schurrle, particularly on the counter-attack, was causing problems.

In the second half, the Magpies started with a little more purpose. The passing was slicker, the thinking was quicker and the fans soon responded. 

With 71 minutes on the clock and Newcastle continuing to probe, they made their first change as Kenedy replaced Christian Atsu. Fabian Schar then headed over from a corner before the Brazilian saw a penalty appeal waved away by referee Martin Atkinson.

There was a wake-up call at the other end when Joe Bryan flashed a shot wide of Dubravka’s goal, before Mitrovic missed two chances to grab a late winner; first he almost robbed the Newcastle goalkeeper of the ball before seeing a shot blocked on the line after great work by Abdoulaye Kamara.

Kamara got through again in stoppage time, but a superb last-ditch tackle by Lascelles secured a point on a frustrating afternoon for Newcastle.

Claudio Ranieri claimed that the clean sheet was the most important thing to take from the game, heading into the New Year.

“At the moment it is important to get a point and a clean sheet,” he said.

“In the last few matches, we played well but the opponent scored with their first chance.

“The first clean sheet is very important for us.”