Fulham 3-1 Newcastle: Awful display punished as Toon suffer first defeat

A missed chance to move to the top of the Premier League for Eddie Howe’s Mags as Newcastle fell to their first defeat of the 2024/25 season at Fulham.

After picking up 10 points from a possible 12 in our opening four, first-half goals from Raul Jimenez and Emile Smith-Rowe gave the hosts an early lead in what can only be described as an abysmal 45 minutes from our point of view.

Our midfield looked all at sea, our front three were spectators and our back four did little to protect Nick Pope; who wasn’t blameless himself after a weak hand failed to stop Smith-Rowe from making it 2-0.

We needed a big second half and it started superbly as Harvey Barnes scored just a minute into the restart. Another away-day comeback was suddenly on the cards and we were far more competitive after the break, but it wasn’t to be as Fulham made sure of the win after a Bruno Guimaraes howler gifted Reiss Nelson a 92nd minute goal to end all hopes of a late equaliser.

Defeats were coming if our performance levels didn’t go up a gear and so it proved today, with our awful first half display punished by a Fulham side that were good value for their 3-1 win.

Alexander Isak passed a late fitness, much to the relief of Newcastle fans and Howe made plenty of changes, although there was no room for Sandro Tonali in his starting 11. Still, we saw four changes as Harvey Barns Joe Willock, Lloyd Kelly and Kieran Trippier replaced Jacob Murphy, Sean Longstaff, Lewis Hall and Tino Livramento.

Starting XI: Pope – Trippier, Schar, Burn, Kelly – Willock, Bruno, Joelinton – Gordon, Isak, Barnes.

Subs: Dubravka, Krafth, Hall*, Livramento*, Tonali*, Longstaff, Murphy*, Almiron, Osula*.

Moments after Joelinton’s disallowed goal for a Willock offside, Fulham went down the other end and struck first via Jimenez to hand the hosts a 1-0 lead within five minutes. The Mexican was found from Adama Traore’s cross, was allowed to turn by Fabian Schar and fired past Nick Pope – and it…

Source link : https://www.nufcblog.co.uk/2024/09/21/fulham-3-1-newcastle-awful-display-punished-as-toon-suffer-first-defeat/

Author : Olly Hawkins

Publish date : 2024-09-21 16:09:48

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