Newcastle United has faced its first defeat of the season as Fulham dominates the club at the Craven Cottage. As Newcastle's journey had been this far, it had been predicted that the club's fate might change soon, and that's exactly what happened for Eddie Howe's side in the Fulham fixture. Except for a few players, the club looked much off, as Fulham grabbed the much-deserved three points from the fixture.
Newcastle United falls paltry to Fulham despite Barnes' brilliant effort
As was expected, the fixture was much more enthralling and dramatic right from the very beginning. In the 4th minute only, Newcastle felt as if they got the lead through Joelinton, only moments later to know that Joe Willock, involved in the buildup, was offside. Soon, the action turned on the other hand, but unlike the Magpies club, Fulham made it 1-0 with the help of an extraordinary finish from Raul Jimenez.
In the early minutes only, the fixture's fate had almost been decided, with the hosts being much more controlled than Howe's side. Ultimately, they got the result as well, as Smith Rowe, who had come much closer to a goal earlier, made no mistake this time in finding the net, making it 2-0 for Fulham. The scoreline remained as such till the first half, despite significant efforts from Fulham to extend their lead.
Like the last time, Eddie Howe made some key changes at the beginning of the 2nd half, with Jacob Murphy and Lewis Hall coming in for Willock and Kelly. Soon, in the 46th minute, Harvey Barnes, who has been the sole consistent performer this season, pulled a goal back; however, that wasn't just enough. It wasn't that Newcastle wasn't creating chances, but rather that only a few were actually contributing the way they should have done.
In fact, Newcastle had been much closer to finding an equalizer after Fabian Schar had the ball after dispossessing Rowe in a 1 on 1 situation to Leno but still missed. Had it been a goal, as was expected, not only could this have leveled the scores, but rather might have ignited Howe's side for a comeback.
In the end minutes, an awful pass from Captain Bruno Guimaraes found Reiss Nelson, after a deflection, who put it past Pope to finish it 3-1 for Fulham. Overall, the matchday clearly illustrated what has been Newcastle's on-field reality, with just a few players, like Harvey Barnes, actually putting up a fight. With this loss, not only has Newcastle missed a chance to go top of the table, but it has slipped to the 6th position of the PL table.