Player Ratings: Newcastle United 1-2 Fulham

After weeks of reoccurring problems and a lack of true identity, Fulham bounced back handsomely in the second half on Tyneside to record a phenomenal comeback victory over Champions League-chasing Newcastle United. After another poor first half, Marco Silva’s inspired Whites took the second half to the Geordies and got the three points they thoroughly deserved.

Bernd Leno

Part of the reason that Fulham had any sort of foundation to build on and make a comeback in the second 45 was due to the solidity of Bernd Leno on a couple of occasions. Fabian Schar made an ambitious run into the Fulham box on the half hour mark but was denied from close range by the German. Following that, Livramento went clear down the right-hand side, but his angled effort across Leno’s body was also saved well. Newcastle created very little after that to give Leno an easier time of it, thankfully, and he certainly can’t be apportioned any blame for the Jacob Murphy opener. 7/10.

Timothy Castagne

Unfortunately, another struggle for Castagne today in large spells. It was he who was majorly at fault for Newcastle’s goal, allowing Anthony Gordon to turn and sprint away from him with minimal effort, leaving the whole defence frantically re-positioning themselves to try and cover the error. He was lucky a 75^th minute effort from Isak didn’t sneak under the crossbar, too, failing to close the Swede down with any vigour. At times, in his defence, he defended the box well as Newcastle pushed for a second, but the consistency on show last season just is not there right now. 5/10.

Joachim Andersen

Another week where I wonder what Diop must be thinking sat on the bench. This wasn’t Joa’s poorest showing but he simply isn’t finding the levels he’s been at for Fulham or Crystal Palace in the past half a decade in the Premier League. When Castagne let Gordon through for the Newcastle goal, it looked clear too that Andersen has lost a yard of pace, as he got nowhere close to getting back to challenge for the ball. Generally defended his box relatively okay and his passing wasn’t as tragic as last weekend but we miss him at his top level, ultimately. 5.5/10

Calvin Bassey

Comfortably our best defender on the pitch, by a fair distance in this one. Made the most tackles of anyone in our backline, including a couple of huge one-on-one challenges near the halfway line that, had Newcastle got past him, would have presented them with a dangerous overload on the counter attack. While Robinson has taken the armband recently, it feels as if Bassey is the leading figure in this Fulham back four at the moment. 7/10.

Antonee Robinson

Finding it hard to criticize Jedi too much for the goal we conceded. Sure, it came from his side and the man he’d be usually be marking, but the whole defence was moving across to cover Castagne’s error and ultimately I think he can be rightly upset there was no left winger to cover him defensively with the two players queueing up to score at the back post. At the other end, it was the captain’s beautifully cushioned cross that set up the equalising goal, his 10^th assist of the season, matching Steed Malbranque’s Fulham record for assists in a Premier League season. 6.5/10.

Sander Berge

Offered us complete control at the base of midfield once again. Even in the first half where Fulham seemed bereft of attacking ideas, the ball would frequently find its way to Berge who recycled possession well to the wide areas each time. Newcastle possess huge quality on the ball in the middle, especially with Guimaraes and Tonali, but Berge stood up to that test and won the ball off both on multiple occasions. A completed pass percentage of above 93% is also mightily impressive considering how often his teammates relied on his strength on the ball. 7/10.

Sasa Lukic

For sure, I think Lukic continues to earn praise this season. He’s probably covering more ground than any Fulham player most weeks, he’s key in transition in terms of his ball-winning abilities and he possesses immense quality on the ball, including an astronomical pass completion rate of nearly 97% in this one. However, with Berge alongside him, I just wonder if, as well as sweeping up at the back at the perfect times, he could find his way onto the edge of the opposition box more often and improve his attacking input now with a bit more freedom to roam in that position. 6.5/10.

Emile Smith Rowe

There’s moments here when Smith Rowe either picks up the ball from deep and drives us forward or plays a lovely one-two in the final third, and you just think you’re starting to see the boy’s quality. But far too often the stuff in between looks so lethargic, not making runs into the box when we need them, hiding behind defenders instead of finding gaps to receive the ball in in dangerous areas. It’s not even a criticism to say he needs more because of his price tag, he just has to do more full stop. 5.5/10.

Adama Traore

Considering how shocking we were in the final third in the first half, Adama seemed the main bright spark in our front six, as the only attacking player showing any intent to take on his full back or combine with the players running beyond him in the final third. His cross to the opposite wing to find Robinson in the build up for our equaliser was perfectly executed and was another example of the composure he can show at times, if not frequently enough. 7/10.

Alex Iwobi

As mentioned in the write up regarding Robinson, I think there would be a frustration there regarding the lack of cover offered up by Iwobi at the back post to prevent Newcastle scoring, and often it has been the case that whilst Wilson may help track back, Iwobi simply doesn’t. At the other end, it was one of his poorer showings this season. Every single crossed seemed limp and loopy and rarely came close to finding a purple shirt. 5.5/10.

Raul Jimenez

More than anyone in the first half, you may have expected Jimenez to seem frustrated and deflated. He had one effort on the left side of the box that would’ve gone for a throw in if it had any power on it, and he couldn’t lay a glove on Newcastle’s defence at all. In the second half, however, he epitomised everything that was good about the Whites’ improvement in and out of possession. He looked determined to get his foot on the ball all over the pitch, which ultimately led to him winning the ball back in his own half, which resulted in an attack that he put the finishing touch onto, via a Newcastle deflection, to equalise. 7.5/10 – Man of the match.

Substitutes

Andreas Pereira (72’ for Smith Rowe)

Looked desperate to earn his side the points when he came on. At one end, he made a clearance and a block when Newcastle pushed to gain some vital points themselves. At the other end, he pressed high and put in a pearl of a delivery to assist the winner, a cross we need to see far more of, both from open play and set pieces. 7/10.

Rodrigo Muniz (72’ for Jimenez)

Chased every single ball from the moment he came on, offering a different type of threat up front in the way he ran the channels and contested in the air. Scored a superbly deft winning goal, his fourth meaningful away goal of the season at a top team, slowly developing into a big game player, maybe. 7/10.

Ryan Sessegnon (80’ for Iwobi) and Issa Diop (88’ for Traore) on too late to be fairly assessed.

Manager

Marco Silva

At half time, I must admit I was expecting to be writing about so many similar aspects of his management that I’ve critiqued in recent weeks regarding tactical stubbornness and an inability to get his team fired up for Premier League games. However, that second half has given me so much hope that we’ve given ourselves a benchmark to find this level more often going forwards and that Silva may have understood the need to adapt and evolve more often. The way he changed our pressing patterns, attacking patterns of play and intensity in the second half was incredible, to the point where Newcastle must have felt they were playing a different team to the one they faced in the opening 45 minutes. To top that off, it was ultimately Marco’s two main subs in Muniz and Pereira that combined to score the goal that earned Fulham all three points. Bravo, Marco, more proof of proactive management and a plan B going forward, please. 7.5/10.