Source: Telegraph
Newcastle United 0 Fulham 1: Match report
Dark clouds have been gathering over Newcastle United for some time, but those which hung over a one-sided contest at St James' Park were especially ominous given the plight of Alan Shearer's sorry side, which worsened after Diomansy Kamara struck the only goal of the game.
Shearer, while admitting referee Howard Webb was right to dismiss Sebastien Bassong for pulling back Kamara on the hour, was unhappy with another of his decisions to disallow a goal from Mark Viduka for an infringement by Kevin Nolan, who was stood in front of Mark Schwarzer as Danny Guthrie swung in a corner.
"We're bitterly disappointed with the disallowed goal," said Shearer, deprived of Michael Owen on the eve of the game after he suffered a groin injury in training. "I thought he got the big decision wrong and when he looks at it, he might think so as well. It's out of our hands now and we have to better whatever Hull get next weekend, but it isn't over and there will be twists and turns."
Hodgson, whose side remain on course for Europe, said: "We came here as sacrificial lambs, but the team, to their credit, stood up to the challenge."
Newcastle, surprisingly, were a shadow of the side which had lit up St James' Park with a win in the Tyne-Tees derby five days earlier, having started slowly, and rallied briefly after the break.
Obafemi Martins had the first real chance with 15 minutes gone. Nolan slipped the ball inside Brede Hangeland, and Martins rounded him, but his right-foot shot struck the post to the relief of Schwarzer.
However, that effort apart, chances were few and far between for United, with Hangeland and Aaron Hughes – who spent the best part of a decade at St James' Park as a player – proving a formidable obstacle to Newcastle's ambitions of a 17th year in the Premier League.
It was as if St James' Park had been taken back in time to a few months ago when the team was managerless, and drifting inexorably towards to the Championship. A warning came six minutes before the break, when a clever back-heel from Kamara teed up Erik Nevland, but his curled effort dipped just wide. United, however, didn't heed the shot across their bows, and worse was to come for Shearer, stood anxiously on the touchline.
Nevland returned the favour for Kamara in the 41st minute, squaring the ball as Steve Harper advanced, and the striker kept his composure to shoot into the roof of the net past a helpless Steven Taylor.
Shearer retreated to the dressing room for the seventh, and most important, half-time team talk of his managerial career and his players responded, albeit briefly.
Suitably chastened, his side finally took the game to Fulham, with Viduka seeing a header hooked off the line in the 49th minute by Dickson Etuhu.
A minute later, Viduka had the ball in the net from a Guthrie corner, only for Webb to rule out the effort, which would have been his first of another injury-hit season at St James' Park.
It was harsh on Newcastle, but Webb got the next decision right. Bassong, the last man, was caught too tight on Kamara, and the defender hauled him down after he was turned.
United, by now out of shape and seemingly out of ideas, had succeeded in silencing St James' Park, which had been a cauldron of noise at the start of the week. No mean feat.
Martins, however, had a chance with 12 minutes left, but Schwarzer got a hand to it, and the outstanding Hangeland cleared. Schwarzer was also equal to an injury-time effort from Nicky Butt.
In the final few minutes, the visiting fans piped up, singing about an anticipated European tour. Newcastle, on this evidence, will be touring English football's second tier next season.
