Newcastle comfortably saw off Fulham to move back into the Premier League’s top six.
The visitors were reduced to 10 men midway through the first half as Raúl Jiménez’s foul on Sean Longstaff was upgraded to a red card by VAR.
Eddie Howe’s already depleted side suffered fresh injuries as Joelinton and Fabian Schär limped off inside the opening 45 minutes at St James’ Park.
But they finally broke the Cottagers’ resolve midway through the second half when Lewis Miley plundered his first senior goal with a sweeping finish inside the area.
Miguel Almirón doubled his side’s lead just seven minutes later with a poaching finish amid confusion over a possible offside in the build-up.
The Magpies went further in front when Dan Burn met Bruno Guimarães who volleyed a cross to the far post to convert after Bernd Leno’s initial effort failed.
Newcastle player ratings
GK: Martin Dubravka – 6/10 – Dubravka had a couple of saves to make after Fulham went down to ten, but the quality of the visitors’ finishing made life easy for the Newcastle keeper.
RB: Tino Livramento – 7/10 – Switched over to the left after Schar went off and offered a distinct threat throughout. A constant presence in the final third, Livramento impressed yet again for the Magpies and should’ve ended the bout with an assist or two.
CB: Jamaal Lascelles – 6/10 – A quiet outing for Lascelles. Fulham rarely threatened down his channel.
CB: Fabian Schar – N/A – Pulled up after ten minutes with a hamstring injury.
LB: Dan Burn – 8/10 – Burn was superb on his return. The defender made a couple of decisive interventions on either side of half-time before he got on the scoresheet
CM: Bruno Guimaraes – 9/10 – The Brazilian may not have been particularly efficient in the opening period, but he was Newcastle’s standout player when the score was 0-0. It was Guimaraes’ quick feet which led to Miley’s opener, and he had total control of the midfield in the second half. Arguably his best showing of the season.
CM: Joelinton – 5/10 – The midfielder pulled up minutes after setting up Iwobi for a glorious chance with an errant back pass.
CM: Sean Longstaff – 6/10 – Surging runs into the half-space weren’t frequent, but he should’ve done more with an effort from inside the area after being found by Livramento. Still working his way back into the swing of things.
RW: Miguel Almiron – 7/10 – The Paraguayan was seemingly involved every time Newcastle pushed forward. Almiron produced mixed results for the most part, but he did get on the scoresheet.
ST: Callum Wilson – 6/10 – The striker was a nuisance more than anything. Battled with Tosin and had a role to play in the second goal as Gordon had initially slid Wilson through before the ball trickled to Almiron.
LW: Anthony Gordon – 7/10 – After an inefficient first half, Gordon offered plenty of drive after the restart. His improvement after the break was critical to Newcastle’s eventual win.
SUB: Emil Krafth (14′ for Schar) – 6/10
SUB: Lewis Miley (36′ for Joelinton) – 8/10
SUB: Matt Ritchie (84′ for Livramento) – N/A
SUB: Sven Botman (84′ for Burn) – N/A
SUB: Lewis Hall (84′ for Gordon) – N/A
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