Newcastle 3-0 Fulham

A hard working display from 10-man Fulham went unrewarded as three second half goals secured victory for Newcastle United at St James’ Park.

We were up against it from early on when Raúl Jiménez saw a yellow card upgraded to red after he mistimed his aerial duel with Sean Longstaff.

The Whites fought valiantly but were undone three times after the break by untidy goals, with Lewis Miley, Miguel Almiron and Dan Burn all on target.

Marco Silva made two changes to the team that saw off West Ham United the previous Sunday. Harry Wilson’s goal and assist from the bench that afternoon earned him a starting berth at the expense at Willian, while Issa Diop’s return to fitness was a timely one, with Calvin Bassey ruled out through illness.

With the suspended Kieran Trippier missing from the Newcastle squad, it was unclear who would take a free-kick for the Geordies in a dangerous position five minutes in. It was Fabian Schär in the end who stepped up, after a one-two, sending his curler a yard wide of Bernd Leno’s near post.

The first effort on target arrived at the other end moments later. Raúl’s overhead kick from 20 yards was ambitious and well connected, but did not cause Martin Dúbravka much unrest.

The United goalkeeper’s next action was far less comfortable as Wilson beat him to the ball – unfortunately, there was nobody in a pink shirt able to convert the Welshman’s centre for a tap-in.

Bruno Guimarães then should have done better when he ballooned over from Anthony Gordon’s cutback, though the Fulham bench was frustrated it came to that after an elbow on Raúl from Jamaal Lascelles went unpunished.

It was not a fortunate afternoon for Raúl, as just minutes later he was sent off. His challenge with Longstaff was mistimed rather than malicious, but VAR recommended that referee Sam Barrott review his decision after initially brandishing a yellow card.

Newcastle smelled blood and tried to take immediate advantage through Gordon, who thankfully saw his angled drive come back off the underside of the bar.

Fulham were waiting for the opportune moments to counter attack, with two coming after the half hour mark – first Andreas Pereira fired marginally wide from 25 yards, before João Palhinha stung the gloves of Dúbravka from a similar range.

The game opened up from there, with Leno denying Callum Wilson, before Dúbravka got down well to keep out a strike from Alex Iwobi, who was now operating as a makeshift striker.

Fantastic dribbling from Tom Cairney and Iwobi then created a chance for an unlikely forward as Tosin had bust a gut to join the attack. Iwobi slipped his teammate in and the centre-back got a firm connection on his square pass, but Newcastle smothered it behind for a corner.

Longstaff then should have put his side in front when the ball dropped kindly for him in the box, but Leno made himself big and put the midfielder off.

The Fulham number 17 was called into action three times in the opening stages of the second half. The saves from Guimarães and Emil Krafth were routine, but his denial of Gordon in between was superb.

The rearguard action had been superb, and so the Newcastle opener felt like a gut punch when Guimarães bobbled his way through several challenges, before the ball bounced off Antonee Robinson and into the path of Miley, who finished well.

There was more frustration for goal number two. Rodrigo Muniz, who had just come on, span away from Lascelles smartly before having his legs swiped by the Magpies captain. Play continued until a mix-up up the back allowed Almiron a tap-in.

It was very harsh on the Whites who continued the fight with a Cairney header which was caught by Dúbravka.

The unfortunate nature of goals conceded continued when Burn made it three. After pinball in the box, a cross was eventually put back in towards the former Fulham man, who saw his downwards header saved by Leno. But, the way our luck was running, it came straight back to the big defender who bundled home.

Wilson threatened to further exacerbate the scoreline in stoppage time, but he saw his low strike on the turn come back off the post, before Leno saved well from Matt Ritchie with what was the final chance of the afternoon.