Fulham 1-4 Newcastle (Chalobah red card 8′, De Cordova-Reid 88′ | Wilson 11′, Almiron 33′, 57′, S Longstaff 43′)
CRAVEN COTTAGE — As first halves go, you may struggle to see a more one-sided half than this one in the Premier League all season.
For Fulham it was calamitous. For Newcastle, serene, with the three points wrapped up by half-time to make this a very fruitful trip to the capital, gifting them a first league win since 6 August.
It started with a red card after just eight minutes. What had looked like a 50-50 when Nathaniel Chalobah and Sean Longstaff rushed for the ball resulted in a dismissal for the former.
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Props to Mitrovic, the Fulham striker posting world-class numbers without world-class teammates01 October, 2022Referee Darren England had no choice, in truth, once VAR Mike Dean advised his colleague to check the pitchside monitor, with the replays showing Chalobah clearly catch the ankle of Longstaff.
As if the prospect of 82 minutes with 10 men was not daunting enough, Fulham faced 79 minutes chasing down a deficit as well as shadows after Callum Wilson put Newcastle ahead.
Kieran Trippier’s deep cross found Joe Willock, whose seemingly goal-bound header was tapped in from not even a yard out by Wilson.
Perhaps most surprising was Marco Silva’s decision not to make a tactical substitution, initially at least, and his Fulham side were 2-0 down just after the half-hour mark.
It was the pick of the goals too, and perhaps a goal-of-the-month (season, even?) contender, with Miguel Almiron playing a one-two with Bruno Guimaraes before his outside-of-the-boot volley from a narrow angle darted past the helpless Bernd Leno.
Fulham’s afternoon got worse when the in-form Aleksandar Mitrovic, who had picked up an injury for Serbia during the international break, hobbled off in the 37th minute.
Fulham vs Newcastle player ratings
Fulham: Leno 8, Mbabu 5 (Cairney 6), Tosin 5, Ream 5, Kurzawa 4 (Diop 6), Reed 4, Chalobah 1, James 4 (Kebano 6), Pereira 5, De Cordova-Reid 5, Mitrovic 4 (Vinicius 6)
Newcastle: Pope 6, Trippier 7 (Lewis n/a), Schar 8 (Lascelles n/a), Botman 7, Burn 7 (Targett n/a), S Longstaff 8, Guimaraes 7 (Anderson 6), Willock 8, Almiron 8, Wilson 7 (Fraser 6), Murphy 7
And just to compound the worst 45 minutes Fulham are likely to play all season, Longstaff made it three for Newcastle when tapping in a rebound after Leno had tipped Sven Botman’s header onto the post.
It turned into a training-ground exercise for Newcastle, and in the second half Fulham attempted to salvage some pride even if a comeback – or solitary goal for that matter – was unlikely.
Miggy at the double!
— Newcastle United FC (@NUFC) October 1, 2022pic.twitter.com/WHQiWQSDDS
Leno certainly earned his keep, having made two strong saves towards the end of the first half before getting fingertips to Willock’s strike after the break.
By the 55-minute mark, Leno had made five saves, with Newcastle enjoying 74 cent possession and Fulham yet to register a shot.
To rub it in, then came the fourth goal, Almiron again after he met Willock’s cross at the back post, and this allowed Newcastle to haul Guimaraes off, so too three of their starting defenders with 10 minutes to go.
Fulham’s Bobby De Cordova-Reid headed in a late consolation, but overall Newcastle may struggle to get an easier match this season.
It was on a plate after eight minutes, and they duly capitalised on their hosts’ awful start.
The win sees Newcastle leapfrog Fulham in the table. The Toon go seventh with 11 points, the same amount as Fulham, who are now eighth.
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