Under-fire Newcastle boss Graeme Souness was finally
given something to cheer as the Magpies clinched their
first Barclays Premiership victory in eight matches.
 |
| Fulham
defender Liam Rosenior |
Injury, disciplinary problems and poor form have
taken their toll at St James' Park with Souness' men
plummeting down the table in recent weeks, but they
registered an emphatic victory at Craven Cottage.
They took full advantage of some dismal defending
from Fulham with Darren Ambrose, Patrick Kluivert and
Shola Ameobi on target before Tomasz Radzinski reduced
the deficit when the outcome was already decided.
Souness opted to deploy Ameobi and Kluivert up front
with club skipper Alan Shearer - who has not scored
in his last 10 Premiership outings - failing even to
win a spot on the substitutes bench.
But the Magpies - with defender Titus Bramble winning
a surprise place in the starting line-up after recovering
from a groin injury - hardly missed him as they found
the net with efficient ease.
Fulham's performance will have boss Chris Coleman
shaking his head in frustration following the impressive
2-0 victory over Everton on Saturday, but consistency
has been the club's Achilles heel this season.
Only the suspended Papa Bouba Diop and the injured
Collins John were missing from the line-up which outclassed
the Toffees - Mark Pembridge and Andy Cole started instead
- yet they struggled to find anything like the same
urgency.
Their bright opening gave little indication of the
shambles to come, however, as Liam Rosenior broke from
defence to set up a promising position for Cole on the
edge of the area but the he hesitated too long and was
collared.
A well-struck free-kick from Mark Pembridge just
whistled over the head of Zat Knight with the goal beckoning
and moments later Edwin van der Sar pulled off a simple
save from Darren Ambrose at the other end.
Knight had made an impressive start, executing one
crunching tackle to halt a Newcastle attack dead in
its tracks and later cutting out a cross from the right
before it could cause any problems.
Rosenior was also catching the eye as he dispossessed
Stephen Carr and fed Luis Boa Morte to start one raid
but the Portuguese winger's ensuing pass to Tomasz Radzinski
was over-weighted.
Newcastle looked the more incisive side moving forward
- although only just - and they took the lead with a
slick 18th minute move started by Charles N'Zogbia's
marauding run down the left flank.
The French midfielder crossed when he reached the
corner and the ball found James Milner whose header
cannoned off Alain Goma into the path of Ambrose who
buried the ball in the back of the net.
Newcastle, clearly buoyed by Ambrose's strike, pressed
for a second with Milner almost finding an unmarked
Kluivert after giving Rosenior the run around in the
right corner.
There was panic in the Magpies' defence in the 34th
minute, however, when Cole nudged on a long ball almost
into the path of Brian McBride and then moments later
Shay Given had to dash off his line to stop Cole scoring.
The Newcastle keeper only palmed the ball as far
as Lee Clark but the Fulham skipper saw his looping
header climb over the crossbar with no-one at home,
allowing the visitors to breathe a heavy sigh of relief.
Carr flashed a lethal ball across the face of goal
in the 42nd minute but Ameobi was just inches short
of connecting as the Cottagers' defence was carved open
once again.
| Match Stats |
Fulham |
Toon |
| Goals |
1 |
3 |
| Possession |
57% |
43% |
| Goal attempts |
6 |
4 |
| On Target |
2 |
3 |
| Corners |
1 |
2 |
| Off-sides |
7 |
6 |
| Penalty |
0 |
0 |
| Fouls |
11 |
15 |
| Yellows |
1 |
1 |
| Reds |
0 |
0 |
| source:
skysport/Opta sports data |
Fulham showed some nice touches shortly after the
interval but they gave the ball away with worrying ease,
letting Newcastle off the hook when they should have
been pressing home the ascendancy they had enjoyed in
the opening exchanges of the second half.
Coleman's side were seeing plenty of the ball but
they were devoid of ideas as the Magpies' defence dealt
with what was thrown at them with routine ease - and
then added the second in the 62nd minute.
N'Zogbia fired a perfect corner and Kluivert managed
to escape Knight and Moritz Volz - who seemed to impede
each other in their eagerness to shadow the Dutchman
- and the Magpies striker steered home at the near post.
Former Newcastle marksman Cole was taken off in the
67th minute following an ineffective display - Coleman
must have been lamenting John's hamstring injury - and
Claus Jensen ran on as his replacement.
Newcastle put the result beyond doubt in the 76th
minute when Ameobi headed in a Milner corner with Knight
and Goma rooted to the spot in a dreadful piece of defending
which will give both players nightmares.
Home fans began leaving in their droves with eight
minutes to go but those that did missed a well-worked
consolation from Radzinski, who ran on to Rosenior's
pass before steering the ball past Given.
Fulham Van der Sar, Volz, Knight, Goma, Rosenior,
Radzinski, Pembridge, Clark, Boa Morte, Cole (Jensen
66), McBride.
Subs Not Used: Bocanegra, Crossley, Rehman, Pearce.
Booked: Van der Sar (62,d).
Goals: Radzinski 86.
Newcastle Given, Carr, Boumsong, Bramble,
Taylor, Milner, N'Zogbia, Faye, Ambrose, Ameobi, Kluivert.
Subs Not Used: Andrew O'Brien, Harper, Robert, Brittain,
Ramage.
Booked: Taylor.
Goals: Ambrose 18, Kluivert 62, Ameobi 75.
Att: 19,003
Ref: G Poll (Hertfordshire)