Newcastle 1-2 Fulham
by Roger Domeneghetti
at St James' Park

NEWCASTLE’S home form has deserted them at just the wrong time. With the crucial second leg of the League Cup semi-final just round the corner, this was a chance to bury the memory of the 4-1 reverse against Bournemouth a fortnight ago; to show it was just an aberration. Instead, the nightmare scenario is staring them in the face: maybe that two-goal, first-leg advantage won’t be enough.

“There were similarities with the Bournemouth game, that’s not great for us,” said Eddie Howe. “I don’t think we were as bad as we were against Bournemouth. On the ball we were wasteful. The general level of performance individually and collectively left me frustrated. We probably deserved to lose the game.”

The home side made a blistering start, like a team with a point to prove; determined to do the business early. Joelinton sent an early warning, testing Bernd Leno within the first couple of minutes, albeit from an offside position. A couple of minutes later Bruno Guimaraes headed just over.

Newcastle went in to the break a goal to the good, Anthony Gordon turning on the afterburners to cruise past Timothy Castagne, before cutting the ball back to grateful Jacob Murphy who scored, with low hard shot beyond Bernd Leno.

But then, Newcastle’s momentum started to slowly dissipate, the confidence drain away. At first, it was almost imperceptible, like the air slowly escaping from a party balloon, but by the end they looked flat, bedraggled.

Fulham dominated the second half, Sander Berge, the quarter back dictating play, Emile Smith-Rowe, Alex Iwobi and Adama Traore aggressive and creative in attack, Raul Jimenez the outlet ahead of them.

Newcastle were no longer pressing; was this a case of before the Lord Mayor’s show? Did the players have an eye on Wednesday night? It was almost as if they were waiting for Fulham to score.

And, just after the hour mark, they did. A sloppy ball from Sandro Tonali allowed Jimenez to break down the left. After a swift interchange of passes between Traroe and Antonee Robinson, the ball found its way back to Jiminez who slotted home.

Eight minutes from the end, Rodrigo Muniz, grabbed the winner, flicking home Andreas Pereira free kick. There were some poor refereeing decisions in build-up, but Fulham’s were good value for their victory.

“I think we deserved the win. What a reaction from us. Overall, I think we deserved three points,” said visiting boss Marco Silva.