Muniz equaliser salvages Fulham 1-1 draw with Newcastle after Murphy strike

Late goals settle a tight game

Fulham and Newcastle United drew 1-1 on Saturday, 7 November, at Craven Cottage in the tenth round of the Premier League. The game only opened up in its final ten minutes. Jacob Murphy gave the visitors the lead in the 80th minute, seizing on a loose pass inside the Fulham half, cutting inside and curling a left-foot shot into the far corner from 25 yards. Less than three minutes later, Rodrigo Muniz stabbed the ball home after a pass from substitute Cesar Palacios, his first league goal of the season.

Chances at both ends

Both sides had late openings to win it. Fulham goalkeeper Bernd Leno kept out a shot from Lewis Hall, and Newcastle's Lukas Hornicek made a sharp save to deny Ryan Sessegnon in stoppage time. Earlier, Harvey Barnes had tested Leno twice in the first half. Newcastle also believed Dan Burn had put them ahead before the interval, but the effort was disallowed for a foul by Yoane Wissa. Timothy Castagne, starting at right-back for Fulham, was replaced by Kenny Tete in the 77th minute, while Matias Fernandez-Pardo, who had been out since mid-October with a virus, came on for Newcastle with about a quarter of an hour left and had to leave the pitch during stoppage time.

Table position and form

After the draw, Newcastle are 11th and Fulham 15th, according to the New York Times. Newcastle avoided a fifth defeat in six matches, which BBC said eased the pressure on head coach Matthias Jaissle a fraction, although the visitors will feel they should have taken three points after going ahead late on. Before this match Newcastle had lost four games in all competitions in a row. Fulham extended their unbeaten run to four Premier League matches. The Guardian said Jaissle had faced awkward questions over his tactics and training methods, and that both sides were too close to the bottom three for comfort. The Telegraph judged Newcastle's display their best of the season, but said the forward play of William Osula and Yoane Wissa let them down.

Murphy and Newcastle's attack

The New York Times analysis argued that Newcastle still lack a clear offensive identity under Jaissle and that their main attacking weapon is underused. Murphy, 31, was allowed to stay wide at Craven Cottage, and his two low crosses created Barnes's shot and Burn's disallowed effort. The same analysis noted that Newcastle earlier rejected a £15million ($20m) approach from Nottingham Forest for Murphy, and that a short-term contract extension for the player, who is in the final year of his deal, has been agreed but not yet announced.