That’s all from me, thanks for reading. You can read David Hytner’s match report from Craven Cottage here:
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The Fulham captain Tom Cairney admits that Newcastle should have had a penalty in the first half when Ryan Tunnicliffe blocked a Matt Ritchie cross with his arm, and that will surely be what Rafa Benítez reflects on after the game. Newcastle will feel hard done by, but at the same time they didn’t create enough clear chances to win the game.
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A brilliant boost for Fulham to pick up all three points. Goalscorer Matt Smith speaks: “I was delighted to see it hit the back of the net. We believed in ourselves, we setup very well defensively, and most importantly we defended well from set-pieces. It’s a benchmark, it’s something to work off, and it kickstarts our season.”
Full-time: Fulham 1-0 Newcastle
The whistle blows, and Fulham have stunned the Championship favourites!
90+4 mins: Free-kick for Newcastle, surely their final chance... Shelvey drills a low ball at Armstrong who can only control the ball straight off the field for a goal-kick. That might just be that.
90+2 mins: A brilliant weaving run by Aarons bamboozles the Fulham defence and he dinks a cross towards the back post, but Button does well to get a couple of fingertips to the ball and tip it clear.
90 mins: Fulham have the ball. Newcastle are running out of time and don’t look very threatening right now. Christensen runs the ball high up the pitch and wins a throw-in for the home side, to a huge cheer.
88 mins: Another penalty shout for Newcastle, another turned down by Simon Hooper. Dwight Gayle laid the ball off neatly for Matt Ritchie who smashed a shot at goal, but Kalas blocked the effort with his arms – which in fairness were tucked into his chest. Ritchie is fuming.
86 mins: Odoi breaks free from a tight space down the right and drills a pass into Christensen in the box. The teenager pauses, losing his man in the process, before slicing a shot high over the crossbar when he really should have tested Sels in the Newcastle goal.
84 mins: Odoi shows another moment of high confidence, chesting the ball back to his goalkeeper cooly when defending at the back post. Fulham make their final change of the night: Tim Ream replaces Scott Malone at right-back.
82 mins: “We are top of the league, we are top of the league!” sing the Fulham fans.
80 mins: Odoi has just pulled off one of the skills of the season. Admittedly there are a few months left to go, but his control off back to get around Paul Dummett will take some beating.
78 mins: After a better spell by Fulham, Newcastle come forwards. Armstrong is looking particularly lively but lashes a long-range shot well wide.
76 mins: Isaac Hayden’s work is done, and he is replaced by Jonjo Shelvey in the Newcastle midfield, who swaggers on like he owns the place.
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74 mins: Ayite shows a flash of magic feet on the edge of the box before trying to bend a finish into the far corner, but his shot is plucked by Sels in the Newcastle goal. “In mitigation, and as Benitez made sure to remind everyone in his press conference before the game, it’s not amount you pay out that counts but rather the net spending,” emails David Wall. “Clearly Newcastle should be considered underdogs for the season rather than favourites. Fact (not a fact).”
72 mins: Fulham have briefly stemmed the flow of attacks from their visitors. Odoi charges down the right and is clattered to the floor by an overeager Dummett, who is booked.
70 mins: Benítez makes a change of his own, with the teenager Adam Armstrong replacing the ineffective Ayoze Perez.
68 mins: Fulham are under huge pressure now. Another couple of whipped balls are dealt with, first by the excellent Madl and then by keeper Button. Jokanovic makes two changes: Matt Smith is replaced by the 21-year-old Lasse Vigen Christensen, and the 35-year-old Scott ‘Scotty’ Parker comes on for Ryan Tunnicliffe.
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66 mins: Kalas clobbers Ayoze Perez to the ground to hand Newcastle a free-kick 40 yards out. The forward dusts himself down before delivering a Harry-Kane-Euro-2016 sort of ball to nobody. A few moments later a much better cross finds Aarons, who chests it down eight yards out but totally miskicks his finish.
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64 mins: Aarons takes up his place on the left wing, with Anita moving to the centre of Newcastle’s midfield. His first pass from the middle finds Matt Ritchie 25 yards out, who is allowed time to turn and flash a shot with that powerful left foot, but Button gets behind the strike and gathers into his chest.
62 mins: Rolando Aarons replaces a fairly miffed Jack Colback.
61 mins: Newcastle go on the attack once more. Ritchie gets on the ball and puts his foot down, powering into the box before clipping a cross to Perez on the penalty spot, but the striker is under pressure and can only glance a header wide.
59 mins: Ayite zooms down the left wing and guides another flat, hanging cross for Smith but it’s just too high and Sels can come out of his goal to gather.
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57 mins: Newcastle flood forward as Perez holds up the ball. He uses Janmaat on the overlap but the full-back’s cross is overhit and Fulham can counterattack. They move the ball quickly before a floated cross finds Matt Smith. The goalscorer rises and guides a header towards the arriving Aluko but it’s just too far in front of the striker who is put off by Hanley. Had Aluko reached the ball there, six yards out, Fulham would surely be two up.
54 mins: It should be level and Matt Ritchie knows it. Anita scurried down the left and pulled a bobbler back to the penalty spot for the arriving Scotland winger, but his low shot was blocked by the feet of Button. A good save, but the keeper shouldn’t have been allowed the chance to make one.
52 mins: Two awful short corners end Newcastle’s spell of pressure and Fulham break. They slow the play before McDonald and Aluko link. The former tries to scoop a pass towards Smith at the far post but Janmaat is under the ball to head clear.
50 mins: Dwight Gayle, who has been notably quiet so far, brings a cheer from the visiting fans with a some headed keepy-uppies. Newcastle eventually work the ball to the right where Gayle hustles a corner.
48 mins: Grant Hanley momentarily loses the ball under himself in the Newcastle box trying to clear a cross, but Aluko isn’t close enough to pounce on the mistake.
47 mins: Newcastle have started the half with plenty of purpose, and the Fulham captain Cairney is forced into a misplaced pass off the pitch under pressure.
Peeeeep! Simon Hooper gives his whistle a puff and Fulham get the ball rolling in the second half. No changes at the break, although it appears Matt Ritchie has switched Newcastle’s right wing with Anita moving to the left.
“So Simon Hooper’s reffing this one, huh?” emails J.R. in Illinois. “Did you know he has refereed exactly one Premier League match? It was on opening day last season and I saw it. It was one of the worst refereeing performances I have ever seen. I guess maybe that’s why that was his one and only time in charge of a Premier League match. For the curious, the match he butchered was Norwich v Crystal Palace. Remember that overhead kick goal by Cameron Jerome he disallowed? And that was not his only horrible call. Among others, he also failed to award Norwich a penalty in extra time when Wickham absolutely steamrollered through Bassong’s back in the box. I’m keeping an eye on him. And right on cue he misses a stone cold hand ball penalty! Wow!” Refereeing is a sod of a job, let’s not forget, but it’s fair to say Mr Hooper hasn’t burnished his reputation with that call.
Some recommended reading
“Nothing short of promotion, preferably as Championship winners, will do.” Championship fans preview the season:
This image of Fulham celebrating that goal suggests corporate football sponsorship may have gone too far:
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Half-time: Fulham 1-0 Newcastle
Simon Hooper blows his whistle, and that’s the perfect end to a pretty dreary half for Fulham, a half in which Ryan Tunnicliffe was very fortunate not to concede a penalty. Things couldn’t have gone much worse for Rafa Benítez, who trudges off with a scratch of the nose. He has work to do at the break.
It was the captain, Jamaal Lascelles, who lost Smith in the melee. Tom Cairney’s outswinger was delicious and the leap and finish were excellent. Craven Cottage is jumping.
GOAL! Fulham 1-0 Newcastle (Smith, 44)
Matt Smith gets free from his marker, leaps high, and slams a header into the far corner past Sels.
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43 mins: A late chance for Fulham, who pressure Grant Hanley into conceding a corner...
41 mins: Newcastle’s Isaac Hayden has picked up a knock and receives some attention, but he’s OK to continue.
39 mins: At the other end, Aluko shuffles away from two Newcastle players 25 yards out and moves the ball on to his left foot before letting fly with a low shot. Sels gets down to parry the ball clear and Dummett reacts quickly – and crucially – to prevent Smith getting to the rebound.
37 mins: Matt Ritchie scampers on to a half-cleared cross and unleashes a volley from 20 yards but a couple of Fulham bodies jump in line to make the block.
35 mins: Paul Dummett blocks off Odoi and Fulham have an opportunity to cross from a wide free-kick. It’s a threatening ball towards Kalas who gets his head on it, but the big defender is ruled offside.
33 mins: Another penalty shout, this time for Newcastle, and this one is a far stronger case: Ritchie and Gayle combine down the left and the winger clips a cross to the centre, but it’s cut out by the hand of Tunnicliffe. The referee ignores it but the arm was high and that is a massive let-off for Fulham.
31 mins: While it hasn’t been hugely entertaining, both defences have certainly been impressive. It’s early days but Grant Hanley and Jamaal Lascelles appear to have a good understanding at the back for Newcastle and they deal comfortably with another forward ball towards Matt Smith.
29 mins: A chipped pass over the Fulham defence finds Perez just offside.
28 mins: A lull.
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25 mins: Boos ring around Craven Cottage. The home fans are demanding a penalty but Simon Hooper isn’t interested. Grant Hanley had come screaming across the box to meet Sone Aluko, and seemed to miss the ball and take the man, but replays showed the Fulham striker never had control of the ball himself and the contact was minimal. A good decision.
Re the Michael Jackson statue, Charles Antaki emails: “Public sculpture has been dismal in Britain for a while now, the odd fourth Trafalgar Square plinth excepted. Nani had the right idea of installing his own statue of himself modestly in his living room, avoiding ridicule (from outside his own family circle, at least). Oh and I see football’s back.”
22 mins: Newcastle are seeing a little more of the ball but are struggling to find Perez or Gayle in any space.
20 mins: This has been an intriguing tactical joust, which I believe is the hipster translation for dull. Perez tries to control a high ball but thumps it away for a goal-kick off his knee. “Anorak alert,” emails James. “Thrilled for the start of the season, excited for the Guardian minute-by-minute reports, driven to distraction by the outdated Cardiff City crest in the table on the left hand side of the page. I know. Leave me alone.” Apologies, James, that must be excruciating.
18 mins: Ritchie swings in a cross from the left towards Perez lurking at the back post, but Malone leaps highest to head away the danger for Fulham.
16 mins: The crowd rise as Fulham break quickly through Ayite on the left. Newcastle are stretched at the back but the Togo winger dithers and when he eventually cuts inside, he is crowded out.
14 mins: Malone surges down Fulham’s left but he’s matched by Anita, who blocks his cross away for a corner. Newcastle defend the set piece well and try to counter, with Dwight Gayle getting his first significant touches. They work the ball left for Ritchie to setup Perez around the penalty spot, but the striker can’t make a clean contact.
13 mins: Fulham have settled well with some steady spells of possession, but misplaced passes have prevented them making an impact in the final third. “The thing about that statue,” emails PB, “is if you removed the face from the rest of it, you’d be hard pushed to tell it’s Michael Jackson. it’s like those artists who do caricatures of celebrities in euro-city piazzas and you’re not that certain who it is meant to be. Tom Cruise maybe?”
11 mins: Perez cracks the free-kick straight at the wall.
9 mins: This time Anita tries a high hanging ball for Perez. Odoi gets caught the wrong side and pushes the Newcastle forward over on the edge of the box as he tries to backtrack. He’s booked, and this free-kick is in a promising spot...
6 mins: Newcastle try to feed a ball down the right towards Perez but it’s overhit and runs away for a goal-kick.
4 mins: New kit watch: Newcastle’s away strip is dark blue with a flash of orange across the chest and shoulders, and striped socks. It’s one of their better away kits in my book. Fulham’s home strip is pretty unremarkable.
2 mins: An encouraging start from the home side. Odoi scampers forwards from right-back and dinks a ball into the centre for Matt Smith, but Simon Hooper penalises the striker for a push on Hanley.
The Championship is under way!
Ayoze Perez kicks the season off on his own in the centre circle, with a direct kick backwards, which is an odd sight. The rule of tapping the ball forwards is no more.
“If you were to combine the records of the two teams Shad Khan owns you would find that in the time he has owned them he has a win percentage of 25,” emails J.R. in Illinois. “I’m glad he doesn’t own any clubs I support, though I do admit he deserves credit for getting rid of that garish statue.”
The players walk out to a jam-packed Craven Cottage, walking past the Championship trophy as they go. It’s a fantastic atmosphere, as you’d expect.
Football is back 😍
— Andros Townsend (@andros_townsend) August 5, 2016
Come on the toon 👊🏽
Pitchside, Steve McClaren is ranting again. He is asked how much of a difference it makes for Rafa Benítez to be Newacastle’s ‘manager’ rather than ‘head coach’, as McClaren was labelled. “Absolutely enormous,” he says with relish. If Rafa was to walk out with some sort of opening ceremony torch, McClaren would probably try and put it out. Or hit him with it.
Rafa Benítez, speaking to Sky ahead of the start of the season, explains why he chose to stay at Newcastle: “Because of the fans. The last day was amazing, the atmosphere. They were pushing, trying to commit me to stay. The feeling in the city, the stature of the club. You feel the love in the city everywhere.
“They [the owners] realise that maybe they have to change the direction. It’s been good because the fans are happy with the change. We have been able to build a squad with a good mix of experience and young players. We have been able to make little changes in the academy, the training ground. I have a very good relationship with [managing director] Lee Charnley.
“Promotion is the objective. If we can prepare the club to be stronger for the future, that would be important too.”
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Three of Fulham’s back four are making their debuts this evening: left-back Denis Odoi, Chelsea loanee Tomas Kalas, and the centre-half Michael Madl, signed from Sturm Graz. Sone Aluko starts up front, who scored three goals in 25 appearances for Hull City last season. Ross McCormack’s shoes will take some filling. Newcastle start with a strong Championship line-up in which three players make their debuts: Grant Hanley at centre-back, Dwight Gayle in attack and Matt Ritchie on the left.
Steve McClaren, who was sacked by Newcastle last season and replaced by Rafa Benítez, has made some pretty pointed comments on Sky Sports before the game, saying Newcastle were relegated from the Premier League because they needed “players who cared” – one among a number of factors rattled off with a passive aggressive edge. “The recruitment policy has changed, we could only buy players 25 and under. Rafa has been able to bring in more experienced players. They’ve changed the captain, brought in Jamaal Lascelles, a captain who cares.”
The teams!
Fulham: Button; Odoi, Kalas, Madl, Malone; Cairney, Tunnicliffe, McDonald, Ayite; Aluko, Smith
Subs: Joronen, Stearman, Ream, Christensen, Edun, Woodrow, Parker
Newcastle United: Sels; Janmaat, Hanley, Lascelles, Dummett; Anita, Hayden, Colback, Ritchie; Perez, Gayle
Subs: Darlow, Sterry, Gamez, Mbemba, Shelvey, Aarons, Armstrong
Referee: Simon Hooper
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Preamble
(English) football is back! Not that it’s been away for long, but an awful lot has changed since the last time (English) football was back. Take Rafa Benítez, for example. He began last season fielding Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale against Sporting Gijon and tonight, less than 12 months later, takes Newcastle to Craven Cottage. For all that’s changed in that time however, the expectation from his supporters is exactly the same as it was in Madrid: Rafa must win the title, and Newcastle begin as the favourites to do just that.
After securing Benítez’s services for the foreseeable, Newcastle have spent nearly £45m on new players this summer. To put that in context, only one other Championship club, Aston Villa, have spent more than £11m so far. Then again, that buying power has been offset by the sales of key attacking threats Georginio Wijnaldum and Andros Townsend, while Fabricio Coloccini and Papiss Cissé have moved on and Moussa Sissoko’s future remains in doubt. Sweeping changes mean new boys like Matt Ritchie and Dwight Gayle must hit the ground running if the Rafalution on Tyneside is to storm the Championship.
Benítez faces a Fulham side whose cautious optimism at the start of the summer is beginning to wear thin. The sales of Ross McCormack and Moussa Dembele have sheered 40 goals from a team who finished 20th last season, and Slavisa Jokanovic has called for significant investment to repair the damage to his squad. Fulham’s success in the transfer market over the next few weeks is likely to be crucial to their campaign. Even so, the manager who took Watford to promotion two years ago remains upbeat and says his team must carry “similar ambitions to Newcastle” this season. We will find out plenty more about both sides tonight. (English) football is back.
Kick-off: 7.45pm BST
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