Newcastle 3 Fulham 0
Newcastle welcomed Fulham to St James’ Park with the visitors having scored ten goals in their last two games. The Magpies’ were getting to grips with their Champions League exit and focussing back on trying to qualify for next season’s competition.
They had come so close, at one stage of the game, sat second in the group table. But after two Milan goals and a PSG equaliser in Dortmund, they were not just out but were out-out. They ended up bottom of the group with the sobering reality of no European football whatsoever in 2024.
The visitors had the first effort on goal as Jimenez tried an outlandish bicycle kick from outside the box. The Mexican caught it well but from that distance, it was all too easy of a save for Dubravka in the Newcastle goal.
Fabian Schar then ran the ball out of defence before pulling up like someone’s dad after he had made the bad choice, following six San Miguels, to have a kick about with the locals on holiday with the family. Not what Eddie Howe wanted to see as the player was forced off, clutching his hamstring.
Credit: @premierleague
Gordon created the first chance for the hosts as he laid it back to the edge of the box for Guimaraes. The Brazilian looked to hit it first time but his effort was not troubling the Fulham keeper as it went high and wide of the goal.
Jimenez was down on the floor, clutching his face. The replay showed he was caught by a stray arm from Lascelles but VAR reviewed it and decided there was nothing doing. The Magpies’ defender can count himself lucky as he definitely caught the player.
The Cottagers’ striker seemed to lose his head from this moment as he wiped out Longstaff with a reckless challenge. The referee brandished a yellow card but on review, VAR asked the official to go and take a look at the monitor.
While Jimenez had slightly pulled out of the challenge, he did still clatter the Newcastle player, connecting with his face and knocking him to the floor. The referee wasted no time in rescinding the yellow and producing a red card for the Fulham striker.
Anthony Gordon was causing all sorts of problems for the visitors and as he pulled the ball out of the air, he rattled the crossbar with his effort. A let off for Marco Silva’s side but you kind of felt it was only a matter of time before Newcastle scored.
Iwobi then had a huge chanced to give Fulham the lead as Joelinton played a loose pass, sending the former Everton player clean through on goal. It was a terrible finish as he drilled his shot straight at the Newcastle keeper.
Credit: @premierleague
Early in the second half Gordon had the ball on the edge of the box and thundered an effort towards the bottom corner. Leno got down superbly to make a one-handed save to deny The Geordies the goal their build-up play had more than deserved.
Finally they took the lead as Bruno Guimaraes bundled his way into the box, with the ball breaking into the path a Lewis Miley. He drilled his effort into the bottom corner to score his first ever goal for the club he had been at since he was seven-years-old. Scenes.
As the impressive Gordon played a neat pass into Wilson, he had a coming together with Robinson and Leno. Incredibly, all three players missed the ball, leaving Almiron with a simple tap-in into the empty net to double their lead.
Eddie Howe’s side were all over Fulham by this point and it was one-way traffic. Shot after shot were blocked by lunging challenges from the visitors. Guimaraes then clipped a ball towards the back post where Burn’s header was well saved, only for the defender to tuck home the rebound.
The Magpies deserved their win, the manager will be worried about the injuries they picked up to Schar and Joelinton however. The turning point in the game seemed to be the sending off of Raul Jimenez but very few in St James’ Park will be unhappy with that decision.
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