Newcastle Opta Evaluation

Hugo Rodallega’s goal proved the difference as Fulham edged out Newcastle United in an entertaining 2-1 victory on Monday and as our Opta statistics show this was an end-to-end encounter.

Perhaps surprisingly, it was the visitors that saw the majority of the ball, with Alan Pardew’s charges taking 54.7 per cent of the game’s possession. Fulham had to settle with 45.3 per cent.

With so much attacking talent on display, less surprisingly, was the total number of shots. In total, Fulham fired 16 at the Newcastle goal, with seven of those on target. At the other end, the Magpies registered eight shots on target from their 20 efforts on the Whites’ goal.

Martin Jol’s side earned five corners to Newcastle’s four, however, from open play, the visitors sent in 39 crosses – 18 more than Fulham. Danny Simpson was Newcastle’s most productive crosser with 16, while Damien Duff was his side’s highest provider with 10.

Having seen less of the ball, Fulham registered more tackles than their opponents with 25 – six more than the away team. As well as scoring the opening goal, Steve Sidwell proved the game’s most effective tackler, with nine successful tackles.

Both teams clocked up a high number of passes, with Fulham completing 298 of their 401 attempts, while Newcastle completed 379 of their 475. Brede Hangeland and Chris Baird made 21 passes forward each, while Cheick Tiote made 23.