Claudio Ranieri had asked for a clean sheet and that wish was duly granted as, for the first time in the Premier League this season, Fulham’s defence kept things pristine.
Yet as the final whistle blew and he embraced his old friend Rafael Benítez, disappointment appeared Ranieri’s over-riding emotion. When his unexpected deployment of three centre halves very nearly paid dividends, Ranieri was left wondering whether Fulham’s shout for a late handball as Aleksandar Mitrovic’s shot struck Jamaal Lascelles’s arm should have been listened to.
“It’s very important to have a clean sheet,” said the Italian, whose side remain bottom. “I don’t know if it was a handball against us but we created more chances than Newcastle.”
Benítez seemed more downbeat. “We have to win these sorts of games,” he said after his players were booed off. “The fans want more but we have to realise we will be in the bottom half of the table all season. If we go higher, it will be a miracle.”
With Fulham’s wing-backs helping sever Newcastle’s supply line to Salomón Rondón, the visitors were well protected by that five man security blanket, with the goalkeeper, Sergio Rico, receiving only rare scares. His most notable fright arrived after Ki Sung-yueng’s free-kick was met by Lascelles, who directed a powerful angled header across the face of goal. After taking a deflection off Mitrovic – sold to Fulham for £22m by Benítez last summer – the ball seemed set to swerve into the net before Denis Odoi hacked it off the line.
Mitrovic – deemed to lack sufficient mobility by Benítez – assumed centre stage and, after nearly capitalising on a rare concentration lapse by Martin Dubravka by dispossessing the keeper, appealed in vain for the aforementioned penalty shout.
“It was disappointing for 85 minutes,” said Benítez. “But a relief we did not lose in the final five minutes.”
