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Fulham 0 Newcastle 1 JOEY BARTON'S first goal for Newcastle handed his side a last-gasp win at Fulham. Barton converted stoppage-time penalty after Elliot Omozusi brought down Alan Smith as Sam Allardyce's side claimed a second successive victory. It was harsh on Fulham, who matched Newcastle for long periods of a scrappy encounter. But the Cottagers have a nasty habit of conceding late goals and face the prospect of a relegation battle after slipping into the bottom three. After the game, Barton insisted the victory was vital for the Magpies. He said: "It was ugly but a win is a win. "We kept a clean sheet and that's testament to Claudio Cacapa and David Rozehnal. "We're all here together and everyone loves playing together. "The team spirit has never been questioned, not for a moment." Toon boss Allardyce was also delighted with the win. He said: "It was not the prettiest of games, we were dogged and resilient. "We had some opportunities but those that came were few and far between. "They were good ones which we didn't convert." On Barton's late winner, Allardyce added: "I don't think there is any doubt about the penalty. "Referee Howard Webb made the right decision and it couldn't have happened any better for us, it's three valuable points to get us up the league. "Oba Martins is normally the first man to get the nod to take penalties, but I've always left it to the man who is most confident and Joey ran up and picked the ball up. "He has the nerve to do it and it's a crucial, crucial victory." Fulham boss Lawrie Sanchez thought his side were unfortunate to get nothing from the match. He said: "The team were excellent in the second half, it's a very cruel game. "There was only one team that was going to win it in the second half. "I think with 20 minutes to go Sam Allardyce had accepted a draw. "We were creating everything and I was disappointed to be ending up with a point. "Of course it got even worse because we ended up with nothing. "In the second half we controlled the game, we out-crossed them, out-shot them and did everything but out-score them." Fulham: Niemi, Omozusi, Hughes, Stefanovic, Bocanegra, Davies, Murphy, Davis (Kuqi 75), Bouazza, Healy, Dempsey. Subs Not Used: Warner, Ki-Hyeon, Smertin, Baird. Newcastle: Given, N'Zogbia, Rozehnal, Cacapa, Beye, Geremi (Emre 59), Butt, Barton, Milner, Smith, Martins (Viduka 77). Subs Not Used: Harper, Jose Enrique, Edgar. Goal: Barton 90 pen. Att: 24,959 Ref: Howard Webb (S Yorkshire). |
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