Newcastle United threw away victory over Fulham with a mistake-ridden, sloppy display that will be a huge worry for manager Eddie Howe ahead of their Carabao Cup clash with Arsenal
Having taken the lead through Jacob Murphy, Newcastle, who were booed at full time, seemed to be trying to conserve energy ahead of the second leg of Wednesday’s semi final against Arsenal and paid the price.
They allowed Fulham to have far too much of the ball, kept giving away possession and dropped deeper and deeper to defend their lead after half time. Their much-heralded midfield trio of Bruno, Sandro Tonali and Joelinton were all well off the pace and with their engine spluttering, Newcastle were a pale shadow of their usual selves.
Fulham, though, were excellent and they should have been level long before Raul Jimenez’s deflected shot wrong-footed goalkeeper Martin Dubravka. Tonali’s poor pass and Murphy’s reluctance to make a tactical foul left the home side’s defence exposed.
The goal did wake Newcastle up but as they pushed for a winner, Joe Willock completely missed the ball at the near post when any sort of touch would have led to a goal. Alexander Isak hit the bar and Fulham punished them from a set piece, as substitute Rodrigo Munez was left unmarked at the near post to flick in from close range.
It is a second successive home defeat for Newcastle and the lack of cohesion in their attacking play is a concern.
The same group of players are starting every week and even though they are playing once every six or seven days, the team looks mentally and physically drained.
