Ultimately, after four games unbeaten and with a chance to move top of the Premier League, Newcastle suffered the result that some of their performances perhaps deserved: a defeat.
They have robbed a few opponents this season and come here knowing that victory would catapult them to the top. This time the bandits were the victims. Victims of a rampaging Fulham and victims of their own mistakes. Each of Fulham’s three goals came with an assist from the visitors.
Joelinton and Fabian Schar were to blame for the first, Nick Pope for the second and Bruno Guimaraes for Fulham’s decisive injury-time goal. Individual errors, yes, but there was also a collective malaise, particularly in the first half when Newcastle lacked intensity, identity or ideas. Fulham, on the other hand, came out of the blocks with full force, before Newcastle borrowed the marksmen and blew their own feet off.
“When you help out opponents it becomes doubly difficult because you get more of the crowd involved in the game,” said Eddie Howe.
“Today was the worst we played this season, especially the first half. The other games weren’t perfect, but we were really solid and resilient. I expected us to perform strongly today, but that wasn’t the case.”
Raul Jimenez (centre) opened the scoring for Fulham as they beat Newcastle 3-1 on Saturday
Emile Smith Rowe (centre) doubled their lead in the 22nd minute of the match
Harvey Barnes scored one back for the Magpies in the opening stages of the second half
Things improved in the second half, when Newcastle, remarkably, managed to pull a result out of the darkness. With the score two down at half-time – a deficit that flattered the visitors – Harvey Barnes scored within 30 seconds of the restart and they twice missed one-on-ones to level the score. If they had managed to draw 2-2, you would have expected Newcastle to put on their masks and take all three points.
Alas, justice prevailed and was not averted. In a blunder that marked his miserable afternoon, captain Guimaraes played the ball straight to Reiss Nelson, who accepted the invitation to score from 11 yards.
“It was a well-deserved three points,” said Marco Silva, whose team conceded a goal in injury time during last week’s 1-1 home draw with West Ham. “We wanted to show a reaction because last week we were unlucky. But what a reaction. The first half was brilliant, our best performance of the season. We were dominant and we should have scored more than twice.”
Silva was right and his mood would have been very different had his superior energy and cunning in the first half not been rewarded with a victory.
They led after five minutes. For Newcastle it was an awfully easy goal to concede. Normally you could say that Raul Jimenez lost his keeper. Except Schar didn’t seem particularly interested in much goalkeeping. Adama Traore crossed from the right, Jimenez received with his back to goal and was allowed to turn before firing low past Pope. Schar watched it all unfold. In the moments before Traore’s cross, Joelinton had gifted Fulham the ball. It set the tone.
Emile Smith-Rowe smashed the bar after Guimaraes failed to follow his run but he was soon back with a goal to double the lead in the 22nd minute. Once again Newcastle’s midfield offered little resistance to the home runners and Smith-Rowe burst into the penalty area before firing home. It looked like a routine save for Pope, who stooped to collect it. However, he had to gather his thoughts after the ball inexplicably slipped through his palm and rolled over the line at a snail’s pace. Not that Newcastle were moving much faster elsewhere on the pitch and Jimenez and the brilliant Joachim Andersen both fired over before half-time when in good positions.
Reiss Nelson secured the victory in injury time after punishing a Newcastle mistake
Eddie Howe’s side suffered their first defeat of the season during a disappointing visit to Fulham
Howe responded with a double substitution and one of the players on, Jacob Murphy, immediately gave Barnes a free-kick which he fired into the bottom corner. Anthony Gordon then spun free but shot straight at Bernd Leno, before the home keeper imitated the visitors when his short goal-kick in the 72nd minute was intercepted by Schar. The centre-back was free in front of goal with only Leno to beat, but placed the ball the wrong side of the post.
“That was a key moment in the game,” Howe said. “It could have been different.”
That could have been done, but perhaps this was the reality check they needed. Too many of Howe’s players – Guimaraes in particular – look unfit. Striker Alexander Isak is too isolated and has one goal in six appearances. Gordon, meanwhile, looks ill at ease after the club considered selling him to Liverpool in the summer.
It is down to their resilience, as Howe said, that results have been achieved so far this season. But on the day they could have reached the top, the manager was left scraping the bottom of a barrel for positives.