Bruno Guimarães scored the winning goal in the 90th minute as Newcastle secured a 2-1 win against struggling Fulham at St James’ Park.
Eddie Howe’s side were on course for another frustrating Premier League afternoon after Sasa Lukic canceled out Jacob Murphy’s shot in the first half.
Frustration was mounting on Tyneside as Newcastle chased a winner, especially after Bruno headed wide from eight yards to go, but their captain burst on to break Fulham’s spirits, sending Marco Silva’s side to a fourth successive league defeat.
Newcastle find a way as Fulham continue to struggle
Fresh off their 3-0 thrashing of Benfica in the Champions League in midweek, Eddie Howe has spoken about how Newcastle have started their Premier League campaign in earnest and like they mean business. Nick Waltemade should have scored in the opening four minutes, but his shot from six yards hit the right wing as Fulham weathered an early storm.
Just as Silva’s side looked to be in control of the game, Murphy swerved past Calvin Bassey and fired a low shot past Bernd Leno and into the back of the net, setting off a counterattack.
Newcastle United’s Jacob Murphy celebrates after scoring his first goal of the match
Fulham continued to pose a threat even though they were behind, but it was Newcastle who had the perfect opportunity to score their second goal. Woltemade once again released Murphy behind the Fulham defence, but this time Leno got the angle right and made a smart block to deny Newcastle a second.
Nick Pope had to be alert to prevent Emile Smith Rowe’s long-range attack after a mistake by Sven Botman, showing the fragility of Newcastle’s one-goal advantage.
Newcastle did not heed these warnings and were pulled back in the 56th minute. Fulham’s final ball often missed, but Kevin, who replaced Smith Rowe at half-time, crossed with precision and Raul Jimenez’s powerful shot hit the crossbar. The ball looped back into the six-yard box and Lukic, who was hit on the head, showed courage and scored the equalizer.
Fulham’s Sasa Lukic celebrates equalizing goal
Newcastle had questions to answer and Guimarães might have answered some of them had he not been free to head goal wide from eight yards out.
This looked like it would be a huge failure as the home side struggled to find a breakthrough after a good run. Joelinton’s header hit the side netting, but Leno made a top save to deny Sandro Tonali and Fulham held on bravely. But Bruno made up for his earlier failure by sparking celebrations inside St James’ Park.
“This is the Newcastle I know.”
Bruno Guimarães celebrates his goal against Fulham
The Newcastle match-winner said: “It’s an unbelievable feeling. I was very tired from Wednesday’s game so I think we had to learn how to finish the game.”
“I’m happy to get the goal at the end. In the last few games we were punished by Arsenal and Liverpool at the end.
“It’s very special to score a goal like that at Gallowgate End because my whole family is here – my mother, my children and my wife. It’s a very nice moment.”
“You can’t play a perfect game every time, but we need to get the three points and we did that today. I’m very happy for everyone. This is the Newcastle I know. We will fight until the end.”
It might have been a good idea to pass the baton to Bruno. He was orchestrating everything for Newcastle. he was outstanding.
Tim Sherwood appears on Saturday Soccer
Howe: Newcastle were lucky to get Bruno
Newcastle manager Howe paid tribute to Bruno Guimarães, a “special” player and person, after Brazil’s 90th-minute goal.
Coach Howe said: “Bruno, I’ve talked about him many times, but to have a player and a person together is something very special. His will to win, his drive, his determination to succeed is for us every day.”
“His professionalism in getting ready to play is at the highest level and I always think it pays off when you do that and he’s still working hard at 90 minutes.
“I would love to look back at that moment and how he got into the box, because there must have been a moment where he had to put on the burner and anticipate what was going to happen.
“But it all depends on his motivation, so he’s a very special player, a special person as I say, and we’re lucky to have him.”
Fulham in danger of relegation scrap
Sky Sports’ Lewis Jones analyzes this as follows:
Fulham have some problems.
While the proliferation of newly promoted clubs shows no fear, there are major concerns about a final third product that lacks freshness and quality.
Despite showing promise in many areas in the defeat to Newcastle, Fulham were insensitive in key moments. 47 final third entries and 25 touches inside the opposition box at St James’ Park are very healthy numbers, but they just didn’t do enough within their own defence.
This is their fourth loss on the spin and the pressure will only increase if they don’t score soon. It will test the mental resilience of a team that recent seasons have brought stability to, rather than fighting for survival.
This season could easily turn into a tense relegation battle rather than a comfortable battle for mid-table.
Silva: “Fulham were punished for two errors”
Fulham manager Marco Silva understandably felt his team had not been rewarded for their efforts after being made to pay for mistakes in the build-up to both goals.
Silva said: “The game was rather dominated by them, but it was under our control and there was one mistake, one mistake that we couldn’t make, and they punished us in the counter-attack moment when we needed to do the basics well, and we couldn’t do it.”
“It’s a moment where you are punished by the details that always play an important role in a Premier League match.
“It’s clear that we have to face it and we have to improve. The collective feeling from ourselves was that it was good, but we want more.”
