After last season’s wonderful final minute winner from Fulham’s Carlos Bocenegra, the whites may have travelled with the hope of winning their first away match since that game back in September 2006.
I travelled to the game with hope, even some expectation that Fulham would take something from the game. Performances have been steadily improving since the appointment of Roy ‘The Boy’ Hodgeson and last weeks win against 5th placed Everton really gave us fans hope that we could escape the mess that Lawrie Sanchez has dragged us into.
Former Fulham manager Kevin Keegan approached the game looking for the first win in his second reign as Newcastle boss. In their previous match, Newcastle had failed to impress against another relegation candidate, Birmingham. Although they did show some grit and determination to come back from a goal behind, they showed very little ability to build attacks, with their main threat being the aimless crosses from Geremi and obviously the pace and strength of Martins on the left-hand side. Their defence often seemed vulnerable – we needed to exploit this.
This said I thought it would be an obvious tactic for Fulham to try and nullify the threat of the exceptionally quick Martins by playing tight on him and Roy Hodgeson decided to play the hard-working Andreasen on the right hand side of midfield to offer extra protection to full-back Paul Stalteri. It had worked so well the previous week in the victory against Everton to eliminate the threat of the powerful running by full-back Lescott and the flair of Mikel Arteta. But on this occasion the tactical decision seemed to backfire as Martins played in such an advanced position that Andreasen had little involvement in dealing with him. It also meant that Andreasen offered very little of his natural attributes to the game. His presence in the centre of midfield was missed as the duo of Bullard and Murphy faltered against the hard-tackling, ball winning partnership of Barton and Butt.
The games first goal scored by the Australian Mark Viduka, was to say the least soft. Credit to him it was a neat finish, but Fulham’s defending was poor. The left footed striker was shown onto his left foot by the usually impressive Hangeland, who allowed him too much space on the ball to create an angle to shoot. Even from where I was sitting it seemed obvious that as soon as Viduka had turned his task was made much easier by the way the Fulham players stood off him.
1-0 to the hosts after only 6 minutes. The worst possible scenario in the circumstances, as the goal lifted the spirits of a somewhat subdued home-crowd.
Newcastle continued to pile the pressure on the fragile looking Fulham defence as the half wore on. Murphy had to clear of the line and Keller made an outstanding save to deny Martins what would have been a great solo goal. Micheal Owen also missed when it looked like it would have been easier to score.
At the break I for one was pleased that we had gone in just one goal behind with Fulham’s only efforts on goal coming from distance.
The second half saw Fulham come into the game a bit-more. The substitution to bring Volz in for Murphy allowed Andreasen to battle against the centre of the Newcastle midfield. This move paid off as Fulham began to win 50-50 challenges, but as with so often this season their play in the final third after winning the ball left alot to be desired. Simon Davies’ talents are wasted on the left hand side and the lacklustre performance of new boy Eddie Johnson meant Brian McBride’s intelligent knockdowns and headers often fell to no-one or to Johnson who proceeded to waste possession on a number of occasions. To be fair to him, it will take time (not that we have much) to settle especially as he moved during the MLS’s off season. It was a similar situation with Clint Dempsey who has developed into one of Fulham’s best performers after some poor showings last season.
With the game approaching the final 10 minutes the Fulham fans held hope that the Newcastle team would get nervous in the last few minutes of the game and make some mistakes, but these thoughts were cut to shreds as Owen flicked home a routine header after he lost Hangeland in the box from a Germei free-kick. The England international couldn’t miss from a couple of yards out. Game over.
All-in-all it was a very disappointing display from a team who have looked a much more solid unit in recent weeks. Not only were the footballing performances below par but the players effort and commitment to the cause looked to have faded since the huge win the previous week. Things need to improve and fast ahead of next weeks visit to Pride Park for a vital, must win game against Derby County.
COYW!
Man of the Match:
Joey Barton – His presence in the midfield was enough to snuff out the threat of midfield play-makers Bullard and Murphy. His performance was almost capped by a goal when his fierce strike beat Keller and fortunately the left hand post midway through the second half.
Fulham Man of the Match:
Jimmy Bullard – Seemed the only Fulham player to show any real commitment. He was also the only player who really went close to scoring for Fulham as he had two decent long-range efforts saved in the first half.
Team Line-ups:
Newcastle United
Steve Harper , Jose Enrique, Joey Barton, Obafemi Martins, Michael Owen (C), Geremi, Habib Beye, Nicky Butt, Abdoulaye Faye, Steven Taylor, Mark Viduka
Subs: Charles N’Zogbia, Alan Smith, David Edgar, Fraser Forster (GK), Andy Carrroll
Fulham
Kasey Keller , Paul Konchesky, Eddie Johnson, Paul Stalteri, Aaron Hughes, Brian McBride (C), Jimmy Bullard, Simon Davies, Leon Andreasen, Danny Murphy, Brede Hangeland
Subs: Moritz Volz, Carlos Bocanegra, David Healy, Tony Warner (GK), Clint Dempsey
well written piece.