Fulham 3 (2) - 1 (0) Newcastle
"YOU'LL NEVER win in London," cried the Fulham fans and at 3-1
up with 10 minutes to go they could be fairly confident that Newcastle would
be travelling home without a win for the 27th consecutive visit to the capital.
When seconds later Alan Shearer missed a penalty, the Geordie fans knew
it too.
Blond bombshell: Louis Saha is elated after scoring his fantastic goal
at Craven Cottage
It was not a happy homecoming for Bobby Robson, the Newcastle manager,
who cut his managerial teeth at Craven Cottage. It was his first visit
in a competitive nature since he was sacked by Eric Miller 33 years ago.
When the Fulham hatchet man later committed suicide, Robson remarked:
"It just goes to show how well he could handle pressure."
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Louis Saha celebrates a super goal |
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His Newcastle team did not handle Fulham's incessant pressure too well
yesterday, two goals in nine first-half minutes by the former Newcastle
player Louis Saha and Sylvain Legwinski doing nothing for their fragile
confidence in this part of the world.
Even so, Newcastle had started the more brightly and indeed might have
scored seconds before Fulham did had it not been for the alertness of
Edwin van der Sar, who managed to block an effort from Craig Bellamy despite
slipping as he came out to deal with the fleet-footed forward.
Talking of quick strikers, Saha has lost a little confidence after his
lively start to the season, as a complete mishit after seven minutes seemed
to indicate, but the goal he hit after 19 minutes should rectify that.
Following a weak clearance by Robbie Elliott, he curled a magnificent
shot with his left foot around Shay Given from 20 yards for his first
Premiership goal since Sept 9.
By the time Nikos Dabizas became the second Newcastle defender to be
booked, after 27 minutes, the alacrity of the Fulham attacks was beginning
to tell on Robson's side. Fulham's second goal a minute later was as fluent
a move as one could wish to see. John Collins started it with a crossfield
run. Saha and Steed Malbranque maintained the momentum of the move before
a ball behind the Newcastle left-back opened the way for Legwinski to
score with an emphatic finish.
Given then stood up to Malbranque and Barry Hayles in quick succession
before Aaron Hughes came to his keeper's rescue when he cleared a Legwinski
shot off the line.
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Edwin van der Sar saves Shearers penalty |
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Only momentarily did Newcastle threaten to get back into this game when
Gary Speed headed home a Hughes cross after 65 minutes. Four minutes later,
Fulham regained their two-goal advantage when a Malbranque corner was
flicked on at the near post by a Newcastle head and Hayles headed home.
The referee, Eddie Wolstenholme, had amazed fans of either side with
some of his decisions but none was as bizarre as his penalty award to
Newcastle after 80 minutes, when Alain Goma was penalised for a perfectly
fair challenge on Shearer. The former England captain saw his spot kick
driven against the post by Edwin van der Sar and as he followed up was
bundled over by the Frenchman. Predictably, Wolstenholme waved play on.
Fulham:
Van der Sar, Finnan, Melville, Goma, Brevett, Davis, Malbranque (Goldbaek
88), Legwinski, Collins (Clark 67), Hayles, Saha.
Subs Not Used: Taylor, Ouaddou, Stolcers.
Scorers:
Saha 19, Legwinski 28, Hayles 70
Newcastle:
Given, Hughes, Dabizas (Distin 75), O'Brien, Elliott, Solano (Lua-Lua 77),
Lee (Ameobi 90), Speed, Robert,
Shearer, Bellamy.
Subs Not Used: Acuna, Harper.
Booked: Elliott, Dabizas, Robert, O'Brien, Lee, Shearer.
Scorers:
Speed 64
Att: 21,159 Ref: E Wolstenholme (Blackburn).