Fulham 1-4 Newcastle: Magpies run riot against 10-man Cottagers
By Sean Walsh
An early Fulham red card allowed Newcastle United to run rampant at Craven Cottage on Saturday, with Eddie Howe's men running out 4-1 winners.
The Magpies claimed just their second win of the season but leapfrog their opponents on goal difference following a demolition job in west London.
For the very brief moments where both sides had 11 men, Newcastle struck the post via Callum Wilson after Dan Burn forced Bernd Leno into a good save.
But with just eight minutes on the clock, Fulham were a man down after Nathaniel Chalobah's studs caught Sean Longstaff's ankles, and after checking the VAR monitor, referee Darren England dismissed the midfielder.
Newcastle's first goal of the afternoon came soon after as Joe Willock knocked a Kieran Trippier cross back through the box for Wilson to convert.
The visitors had their second just after the half-hour mark through a stunner from Miguel Almiron, who wonderfully looped a chipped through ball from Bruno Guimaraes up and over a helpless Leno.
Fulham were at sixes and sevens defensively and were made to pay once more after failing to defend a corner, with Longstaff this time the beneficiary as he poked home a spilled save from Leno.
At the start of the second half, the German stopper made a great save to deny Willock from adding a fourth, before Almiron grabbed his second of the afternoon with a simple tap-in.
The Paraguayan thought he had a hat-trick when he picked out the top corner after being slipped through by Elliot Anderson, but the offside flag had been raised.
Fulham managed to grab a late consolation through Bobby De Cordova-Reid, but it did little to dampen the spirits of the travelling Newcastle support.