Newcastle United 1-2 Fulham: Hosts’ top four hopes dealt major blow after late Muniz winner

Despite taking the lead in the first half through Jacob Murphy, Newcastle United slipped to a second successive defeat at home damaging their UEFA Champions League aspirations as goals from Raúl Jiménez and Rodrigo Muniz saw Fulham move up to 9th with another impressive performance away from home.

As it happened

Last time out at St James’ Park, Newcastle were comprehensively beaten by Bournemouth 4-1 in their first defeat since a 4-2 loss to Brentford which sparked a nine-game winning run in all competitions.

With that in mind, the hosts would have been eager to make a fast start and very nearly did so; Alexander Isak was just about unable to get on the end of Jacob Murphy’s initial cross but when Anthony Gordon kept the danger alive, Bruno Guimarães headed slightly wide after a late run into the box.

Despite not creating any early chances, the threat from Fulham on the counter was very much alive especially with the speed of Adama Traoré down the right-hand-side. Lewis Hall has had an impressive season so far, but he certainly had a task on his hands to keep the winger quiet.

Newcastle’s attackers have often been the subject of praise from many this season, but when Guimarães played a through ball to send a Newcastle player one-on-one with the goalkeeper, not many would have expected Fabian Schär to be the one up against Bernd Leno – as the German stood strong to deny the defender.

The deadlock was finally broken by Jacob Murphy on his 200^th appearance in a Newcastle shirt. After some great work by Anthony Gordon, the winger was played in behind and as Timothy Castagne struggled to keep up, Gordon pulled it back just behind Isak who was waiting in the centre of the box – but Murphy was there to slam it home.

Previously it was Fabian Schär up against Bernd Leno, but this time it was Tino Livramento to be the Newcastle defender facing Fulham’s keeper. Much like Schär’s effort however, the attempt was easily dealt with. Although there were some early threats from the away side, Fulham had to be careful to ensure that it did not become one-way traffic.

The away side began the second half brightly, as the ball fell to Emile Smith-Rowe who took the opportunity to carry the ball to just outside the Newcastle box before testing Martin Dúbravka. Fulham did not have a single shot on target in the first half; Smith-Rowe already had two in the space of 5 minutes after the break. They really should have been level after the hosts failed to deal with a long pass, with the ball brought down by Raúl Jiménez for a great chance that failed to come to fruition after his effort was deflected wide for a corner.

Since coming out for the second half, Newcastle had been sloppy and finally Fulham were able to make them pay. The away side quickly broke after winning the ball back following a Newcastle free-kick, as Traoré found Antonee Robinson who teed up Jiménez before the Mexican found the bottom corner with the aid of a deflection from Jacob Murphy.

Following Fulham’s equaliser, the encounter became an end-to-end affair and the Magpies really should have been back in front. Jacob Murphy had been involved in goals for both sides so far and so easily could have played a part in another, as he combined with Isak to allow the striker to tee up Joe Willock – but despite facing an open goal, Willock completely mistimed his strike and failed to make any contact.

Bournemouth were the only side to prevent Alexander Isak from scoring in his last 10 Premier League games and Fulham were extremely lucky to not be the Swede’s latest victim after he picked up the ball on the edge of the Fulham box and found time to set himself to try to pick out the top corner, but his effort struck the post.

However, Fulham’s luck did not end there. They won a free-kick high up the pitch giving Andreas Pereira the chance to deliver a great cross which fellow substitute Rodrigo Muniz was able to get on the end of for his fourth of the season. Less than 10 minutes after Marco Silva brought them on, the Brazilians combined to complete a comeback very few would have expected at half-time.

Despite Newcastle throwing everything they could at Fulham late on, the away side were able to deal with every desperate cross into the box from the hosts and cling on to complete a league double over the Magpies. The result joins a list of impressive efforts away from home by Fulham this season, alongside a win at Stamford Bridge and respectable draws at Anfield and the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

The lineups

NEW: Dúbravka; Livramento, Schär, Burn, Hall; Guimarães, Tonali, Joelinton; Murphy, Isak, Gordon

FUL: Leno; Castagne, Andersen, Bassey, Robinson; Lukić, Berge; Traoré, Smith-Rowe, Iwobi; Jiménez