Murphy spot-on for Fulham

Fulham climbed out of the bottom three with a hard-fought 2-1 win over Newcastle at Craven Cottage.

Magpies slip into drop zone

Fulham climbed out of the bottom three with a hard-fought 2-1 win over Newcastle at Craven Cottage. Danny Murphy's 100th club goal proved to be enough for Roy Hodgson's men after Shola Ameobi had cancelled out Andy Johnson's first-half opener. Fulham grabbed the lead on 23 minutes when Claudio Cacapa's headed clearance rebounded off team-mate Fabricio Coloccini into the path of Johnson who smashed his shot through the legs of Shay Given. Newcastle improved in the second half and drew level on 57 minutes when Ameobi drilled the ball home from close-range after the ball fell invitingly to him inside the box. Fulham restored their lead on 66 minutes when Murphy netted his landmark goal from the penalty spot after Coloccini was adjudged to have clipped Johnson inside the box. Kinnear included Michael Owen among the substitutes and the England striker missed a fine late chance to equalise, with Fabio Capello watching from the stand. Owen could watch from the bench as Newcastle were torn apart from the start by Fulham's ambition, which saw Shay Given expertly palm a Jimmy Bullard shot to safety. Maintaining the pressure, Murphy almost saw a shot deflected into the net by Jose Enrique with Given stranded. Newcastle striker Obafemi Martins tried his luck from long range but it was a rare moment of respite as Gera nodded a Simon Davies cross narrowly wide. Enrique came to the Magpies' rescue in the 18th minute when, stood virtually on the line as the last defender, he nodded clear another powerful Gera effort.

Opener

But there was no escape in the 23rd minute when rampant Fulham scored the goal their ascendancy deserved. A floated cross by Bullard was met by Cacapa but his headed clearance struck team-mate Coloccini and fell into the path of Johnson, who buried the chance. Newcastle were seeing more possession but they were almost caught on the counter-attack in the 40th minute when Johnson, Bobby Zamora and Bullard combined only for Joey Barton to arrive in the nick of time. Heavy rain was failing to dampen either side's attacking ambition with Damien Duff outstripping Paul Konchesky and pounding the right post with a piledriver. Nicky Butt saw a well-struck free kick saved by Mark Schwarzer and moments later the former Manchester United star should have converted from close range as Newcastle continued their impressive start to the second half.

Equaliser

It was all one-way traffic after the restart as the Magpies probed away for the equaliser and it duly arrived in the 57th minute. Duff's cross was deflected by Johnson into the centre of the area but an unfortunate bounce saw the ball elude right-back John Pantsil. Instead, it slipped behind him and Shola Ameobi was the first to react by drilling home from three metres out. Schwarzer palmed a cracking shot from Barton around the post as Newcastle continue to pummel away against a Fulham side that had disintegrated since their fine first half. But against the run of play Roy Hodgson's team restored their lead when Murphy struck from the spot in the 66th minute. Coloccini just clipped Johnson as he sprinted into the area and referee Martin Atkinson had no hesitation signalling a penalty for the decisive score.

Fulham	Team Statistics	Newcastle United
2	Goals	1
1	1st Half Goals	0
4	Shots on Target	4
5	Shots off Target	8
3	Blocked Shots	4
6	Corners	1
16	Fouls	13
3	Offsides	3
2	Yellow Cards	2
0	Red Cards	0
73.8	Passing Success	75.6
28	Tackles	9
67.9	Tackles Success	88.9
45.1	Possession	54.9
50.9	Territorial Advantage	49.1