Steve Bruce has always maintained teams are only as strong as their strikers. The good news for Newcastle’s manager is that he possesses an excellent centre‑forward in Callum Wilson, who has proved so wonderfully adept at camouflaging colleagues’ flaws that Bruce probably does not dare to contemplate where his otherwise largely indifferent side would be without their £20m summer signing from Bournemouth.
Wilson was at it again here, helping airbrush a hitherto poor home performance by cleverly winning, and nonchalantly converting, a controversial equalising penalty which also brought the sending-off of Fulham’s Joachim Andersen.
It made for a mixed return to St James’ Park for Scott Parker, whose improving side suggested they are too good for an immediate return to the Championship but remain in the perilous waters of 17th, eight points and five places behind Newcastle.
Parker departed Tyneside complaining Wilson had dived and that Fulham should have won but he still seemed more upbeat than Bruce. “We haven’t given enough,” said Newcastle’s manager. “We have to be better.”
Bruce made five changes from the side that succumbed 5-2 at Leeds last Wednesday, with the two most notable alterations at full-back, where DeAndre Yedlin and Paul Dummett made their first league starts of the season. Both were given comprehensive workouts.
As a former Newcastle midfielder, Parker knew how much a place in the first XI would mean to Aleksandar Mitrovic and duly reintroduced this one-time St James’ Park cult hero at centre-forward. Fortunately for Bruce, Mitrovic proved rather less effective than Wilson, a heavy touch denying him a decent chance to double Fulham’s advantage.
Meanwhile Tom Cairney’s left-footed creativity was restored to the visiting midfield, where he showed precisely why Rafael Benítez was once so keen to transplant his subtle talents to Tyneside. Ademola Lookman doubtless reflected on what might have been after meeting André-Frank Zambo Anguissa’s lofted cross but heading straight at Karl Darlow from 12 yards.
At this stage Parker’s side increasingly controlled possession, something facilitated by Newcastle’s penchant for repeatedly gifting the ball to their guests.
Matt Ritchie’s generosity even extended to scoring an own goal, the ball flying, comedically, off the frantically back-pedalling winger’s chin and beyond a wrong-footed Darlow after Tosin Adarabioyo had caused consternation by flicking on Cairney’s corner.
As a mortified Ritchie trudged off at half-time Newcastle’s possession quotient had dropped to 33%, while Alphonse Areola had only been properly stretched once, when he smothered Miguel Almirón’s low shot.
In mitigation Bruce is without a quartet of senior players struggling to recover from Covid-19, with two particularly unwell, but his side’s unfortunate stylistic contrast with Fulham will not have been lost on the Newcastle manager’s many critics.
Indeed as the clocked ticked down, the home side’s League Cup quarter-final at Brentford on Tuesday started looking more burden than joy. And particularly considering Manchester City, Liverpool and Leicester are their next three league opponents.
In recent weeks Bruce has reverted to 4-4-2 but it can tend to look a bit analogue against more fluid sides such as Fulham. On this evidence, Jonjo Shelvey and Sean Longstaff are not the solution to his central midfield conundrum. Parker the player would have walked into this St James’ Park starting XI.
Parker the manager was smiling until Wilson collapsed under Andersen’s challenge after Newcastle’s leading scorer had been put clean through by Almirón in the wake of Ola Aina’s concession of possession. Graham Scott, the referee, immediately pointed to the penalty spot but was then sent to his VAR monitor and Andersen was subsequently shown a red card for denying a clear goalscoring opportunity. As the defender headed down the tunnel, Wilson sent Areola the wrong way to register his eighth goal of the season.
Bruce said it was the “right call” but Parker demurred. “The contact was made outside the box and then he goes into the box and dives,” said Fulham’s manager. “The penalty and the sending-off changed the dynamics of the game but I’m very proud of my players, they played exceptionally well.”
