Ten-man Fulham took a point from Tyneside to lift them out of the relegation zone on goal difference, a third draw in as many games.
An own goal from Matt Ritchie late in the first half was cancelled out by a Callum Wilson penalty after 64 minutes after Joachim Andersen received a hotly contested red card.
Scott Parker named a triple change from Brighton on Wednesday night in a physically demanding week for his players as Mario Lemina, Tom Cairney and Aleksandar Mitrović came into the side. Bobby De-Cordova-Reid had originally been named on the bench, but a muscle strain in the warm-up for Ivan Cavaleiro meant the Jamaican international was called upon at the last-moment to start.
It was a quiet opening 10 minutes as both teams felt each other out on a chilly Saturday evening, but it was Fulham who had the first clear opening just after. Ola Aina sold Miguel Almirón with a suave stepover and found space for a cross on the right. The delivery was decent and found Cairney 10-yards out, but a deflection on his shot took it over.
Moments later and Fulham had a clearer effort on goal. Some clever play from Frank Anguissa allowed him to cross in from the left, finding Ademola Lookman in plenty of room from similar range to Cairney seconds before. His header was powerful but straight into the hands of a grateful Karl Darlow in the Newcastle net.
After 25 minutes came our best spell of the game so far. Lookman and Anguissa combined again with a neat one-two, before Anguissa was taken out inches outside of the area. The resulting free kick was struck with venom from Lookman but ricocheted off the wall for a corner, which was then glanced narrowly wide from Tosin Adarabioyo.
Fulham were dominating the game now, and it wasn’t long before the latest chance came. Mario Lemina skipped past his marker before floating in an inviting cross-field ball for De Cordova-Reid, but the man-in-form couldn’t quite control his volleyed effort on goal and it dribbled wide.
Although they didn’t have a great deal of the ball, Newcastle were still a threat on the counter, and reminded Fulham of this on 37 minutes. Penetrating play from Joelinton allowed Alimrón to squirm away on the left of the box. He struck a firm shot but it was no problem for Alphonse Areola who dealt with it accordingly.
Just before the 42nd minute came the breakthrough, and it was a deserved one for Fulham. Another corner caused issues for Steve Bruce’s men, and again Adarabioyo used his lofty 6’4 frame to meet the ball. His header was heading narrowly wide of the mark, but had enough on it to bounce off Ritchie who simply couldn’t get out of the way, and it was advantage Fulham via an own goal.
The second half started brightly for Newcastle with Almirón on the attack one again straight away. Andersen went toe-to-toe with the winger as he wound up to shoot but was adjudged to have been a little late and went into the book, conceding a free-kick in the process. Jonjo Shelvey stepped up to take, but it glided well over Areola’s goal.
Seconds later and we rebounded down to the other end. A cross from the left bobbled to Cairney in space just inside the area who busted out the acrobatics, but didn’t get enough purchase on the shot to trouble Darlow.
Just before the hour mark and largely against the run of play, disaster struck for Fulham. On the counter-attack Newcastle were a threat once again; Almirón played through Wilson and he was brought down by Andersen as he raced through resulting in a penalty and a straight red for our Danish defender after a lengthy VAR ponder. Wilson made no mistake from the spot and planted his penalty down the barrel to equalize.
As a result of losing a man, Michael Hector replaced Cairney for his first slice of Premier League action since late September.
Fulham battled back and didn’t seem phased by the previous few moments. Smart play from Antonee Robinson set Lookman free in the box to shoot, requiring a strong pair of hands from Darlow to parry.
The game was wide open now as a result of the man lost and the latest Newcastle attack gave Fulham something further to think about. Joelinton did the hard work to get one-on-one with Areola, but the Frenchman won the duel and stood brave to block the striker’s effort.
With seconds remaining on the clock there was a Fulham shout for a penalty of our own as the ball bobbled onto a hand, but strong calls from the players were waved away by the referee.
The game ebbed out towards the end and neither team could find the inspiration to grab all three points, making it three draws in three for Scott Parker’s men.
Fulham: Areola; Aina, Andersen, Adarabioyo, Robinson; Lemina, Anguissa; De Cordova-Reid, Cairney (Hector 64’), Lookman (Bryan 90'); Mitrović (Loftus-Cheek 76’)
Newcastle: Darlow; Yedlin, Clark, Fernández (Hayden 46’), Dummett (Fraser 79’); Ritchie, Shelvey, Sean Longstaff, Almirón; Joelinton (Gayle 75’), Wilson