Amy Lawrence, The Observer:
But overall, Fulham were the kind of opponents designed to scratch at Newcastle’s itches. They are tough and resilient, immaculately organised, comfortable in possession, and perfectly capable of scoring.
Duncan Hamilton, The Sunday Times:
Fulham boss Roy Hodgson was nonetheless bullish about what he saw. “We came here in difficult circumstances. The crowd were willing on Newcastle. And Newcastle were fighting for their lives. The result proves how far we’ve come,” he maintained.
Diomansy Kamara’s strike just before the break cemented Fulham’s Europa League hopes and left Newcastle sweating on their Premier League status.
Michael Walker, The Independent on Sunday:
With former Newcastle defender Aaron Hughes superb in the Fulham back four, the Londoners were refusing to play to the accepted script of a home win. “We came here as sacrificial lambs,” said Fulham manager Roy Hodgson. “It was a credit to Fulham that we stood up to that challenge.” With Hughes behind him, Danny Murphy contested everything in midfield. Fulham sat deep. In the 23rd minute at a Newcastle throw-in, there were nine yellow shirts in the visitors’ box, four black and white ones.
Bruce Maxwell, The Sunday Telegraph:
In the final few minutes, the visiting fans piped up, singing about an anticipated European tour. Newcastle, on this evidence, will be touring English football’s second tier next season.
Fulham used their extra-man advantage to dictate the game, stroking the ball around to such effect that their fans celebrated with a few chants of ‘Olé’. It could have been a lot worse in the 70th minute but Harper made a spectacular save to push Nevland’s shot over the bar
Alan Oliver, The People:
The home fans’ nerves were nearly shattered in the 38th minute when Nevland flashed a shot just wide. And their worst fears were realised when Roy Hodgson’s visitors took the lead three minutes later.
Once again the dangerous Nevland was involved as he beat the offside trap and raced clear down the right wing.
The Norwegian striker managed to keep his nerve as Sebastien Bassong failed miserably to catch him and he squared the ball for Kamara to lash into the roof of the net.
Martin Hardy, The News of the World:
Fulham, potentially Europa Cup bound, should have added more. Keeper Steve Harper did well to deny Nevland, ref Webb could have given a penalty when Taylor hauled down Clint Dempsey and Zoltan Gera was inches wide from 20 yards.
Saj Chowdhury, BBC Sport Online:
Fulham’s forward play this season has been uncomplicated and effective, but the real stars of their campaign have been at the back.
Gareth Maher, Setanta:
For Fulham’s part, they never lost their composure. The midfield combination of Danny Murphy and Dickon Etuhu works well, while the passing game that Roy Hodgson favours has been adopted by each of the outfield players.
To think that they were without Simon Davies, left Andy Johnson and Bobby Zamora on the bench, and still played their same fluid counter attacking game – it is a credit to Hodgson and a sign of how much this team have developed over the course of the season.
Brian McNally, The Sunday Mirror:
The euphoria that engulfed St James’ Park in Monday’s Tyne-Tees derby win over was strangely missing as Newcastle nerves were evident both on the pitch and in the stands.
And as Fulham began full of method and hard running, and news filtered through from Teesside that relegation rivals Middlesbrough were winning, the mood became increasingly tense.
| Newcastle United | Team Statistics | Fulham |
| 0 | Goals | 1 |
| 0 | 1st Half Goals | 1 |
| 4 | Shots on Target | 3 |
| 6 | Shots off Target | 7 |
| 5 | Blocked Shots | 3 |
| 6 | Corners | 2 |
| 6 | Fouls | 18 |
| 0 | Offsides | 3 |
| 0 | Yellow Cards | 3 |
| 1 | Red Cards | 0 |
| 75 | Passing Success | 78.9 |
| 15 | Tackles | 23 |
| 73.3 | Tackles Success | 52.2 |
| 51.1 | Possession | 48.9 |
| 58.9 | Territorial Advantage | 41.1 |
This was a brilliant result for us given the scenario of Newcastle being desperate for points. For long periods we were in control and, although we weren’t at our best, I never really thought we were going to concede. Kamara played really well, linking up well with Nevland, and it was his pace that led to the sending-off. Schwarzer has made a huge difference for us in goal this year. We’re on the brink of Europe – an amazing achievement by Roy Hodgson.
Player ratings Schwarzer 8; Pantsil 8, Hughes 7, Hangeland 8, Konchesky 7; Gera 6, Murphy 7, Etuhu 6, Dempsey 8; Nevland 7 (Johnson 75 6), Kamara 8
Jamie Ruszczynski (CCN, The Observer)
