Fulham substitute Rodrigo Muniz struck in the 82nd minute to secure a 2-1 win at Newcastle United in the Premier League on Saturday, with the visitors coming back from a goal down to grab the victory following a superb second-half effort.
The victory sees Fulham move up to ninth in the table on 36 points, five behind Newcastle who remain fifth after a disjointed performance in which they hit the woodwork twice.
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— Fulham Football Club (@FulhamFC) February 1, 2025
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The home side started brightly, attacking from a dizzying array of angles, but it took them until the 28th minute to register a shot on target as defender Fabian Schaer stormed into the box only for his effort to be blocked.
Newcastle midfielder Sandro Tonali fired a thunderous shot off the bar in the 35th and two minutes later they took the lead after a brilliant break down the left channel by Anthony Gordon, with Jacob Murphy slamming the ball into the net after Fulham defender Calvin Bassey steered it into his path.
Fulham were much more aggressive after the break, with Emile Smith Rowe testing goalkeeper Martin Dubravka with an early shot and Raul Jimenez wasted another good chance to equalise in the 56th minute as he won a duel for the ball with a pair of defenders but his shot was deflected wide.
After scoring in the first half, Murphy went from hero to villain in the second as his attempt to block a Jimenez shot wrong-footed his keeper as Fulham equalised in the 61st minute.
With Newcastle struggling, their forward Alexander Isak smacked a shot off the bar in the 75th and that miss proved costly seven minutes later when Muniz stole in at the near post to get a touch on Andreas Pereira's free kick to claim the win.
Fulham coach Marco Silva was delighted with how his side responded after the break.
"We needed to be more incisive, more proactive in our attacking line - what a reaction. First 25 minutes of the second half was from a team who knew really what to do to win a game here," he told Sky Sports.
Eddie Howe cut a more forlorn figure after the game, and he couldn't hide his disappointment after a flat display from his side.
"I don't think we played particularly well. We got ourselves ahead, we conceded a couple of poor goals today, never got full control of the game like we wanted to do, very disappointing overall," the Newcastle manager told the BBC.