January 28, (THEWILL) – Newcastle United showed signs of returning to top form as they emerged victorious with a 2-0 result over Fulham in the fourth round of the FA Cup at Craven Cottage on Saturday. Having not played since January 13th, the Magpies looked fresh and imposed their will on a disjointed Fulham side recently eliminated from Carabao Cup contention.
The first half remained scoreless for the majority of the opening 45 minutes. The home side generated a few half-chances through striker Rodrigo Muniz but failed to seriously trouble Newcastle keeper Martin Dubravka. As the half wound down, Newcastle finally broke through when Sean Longstaff powered home a close range effort in the 39th minute, capitalising on a defensive miscommunication by Fulham.
Hoping to find an equaliser, Fulham manager Marco Silva turned to the bench, bringing on veteran winger Willian at half-time. Willian did manage to spur his team on, seeing a long range goal called back for offside and helping the Cottagers control possession and tempo for a period.
Yet, the Magpies weathered the push and doubled their advantage just after the hour mark. Another set piece once again exposed Fulham’s vulnerability, with centre back Dan Burn first to react and slam home the rebound after the home keeper parried a Sven Botman header.
The 2-0 result sees Newcastle progress to the next round while ending Fulham’s domestic cup ambitions for 2024. The match highlighted Newcastle’s depth and quality while exposing areas Silva will hope to address if the Cottagers hope to make a deep FA Cup run next season.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
