It wasn’t pretty, but Saturday’s 1-0 win at Fulham felt so precious in our push for European football.
Below I pick out some of the main positives and negatives we can take back to Tyneside from Craven Cottage.
Positives
Gaining on European rivals – We have to take care of our own business first, which we did, but this victory allowed us to extend our lead over Wolves and Brighton – who both lost over the weekend – and keep pace with West Ham after their 2-1 win at Molineux. We’re now just one point from Man Utd in sixth ahead of their clash with Liverpool today and moved four clear of Chelsea; who travel to Sheffield United for the 5.30pm kick-off.
Rare clean sheet on the road – Believe it or not, this was the first time we’ve kept a clean sheet in a Premier League away game since that 8-0 hammering of Sheffield United in September last year. We made an awful start, but we managed to see it out after a sluggish first half. Dan Burn looks much better at centre-back and comfortable alongside Fabian Schar. A confidence boost for both, along with Martin Dubravka – who was beaten three times in our last away game – teenage left-back Lewis Hall and third choice right-back Emil Krafth.
Bruno Guimaraes – His match-winning goal, his second half display, him kissing the badge in front of a packed out away end and him telling the media “I hope to stay much longer” when asked about his future after the game. What a character, what a player and what a job he’s done to avoid that 10th yellow card. Avoid a yellow in next weekend’s clash with Spurs an he’ll avoid a two-match ban!
Impact subs – Our midfield looked better for Elliot Anderson’s introduction and Harvey Barnes brought a greater threat after replacing Jacob Murphy. On Tuesday we had so few options on the bench, but Anderson and Barnes helped us over the line in this one and deserve a run in the side. Hopefully both can make an impact over the final seven games of the season after overcoming injuries.
Negatives
Joe Willock – Forced off before the break after aggravating an achilles injury that saw him miss 18 games between November and February. He didn’t make any real impact from the bench on Tuesday and looked way off the pace at Fulham. It’s been suggested he may need surgery to fix the ongoing issue. Whether he requires that or not, it’s a shame to see him struggling after such a stop-start season. With Joelinton, Miley and Tonali all out, we could really do with him over the run-in.
We rode our luck – After our 1-1 draw against Everton, we knew it was missed chances and a stupid mistake that cost us. On another day we’d win that 2-0. At Fulham it was almost the opposite. They’ll have been wondering how they didn’t capitalise on their early dominance and should’ve been ahead at the break. How we regrouped was impressive and a sign of the resilience in the group, but we did start very slowly and took a while to wake up.
VAR – It’s threatening to ruin football, isn’t it? Firstly, it quickly cut short the celebrations after Schar’s perfectly good goal, then officials looked at several angles of slowed down footage to try and find a foul. Burn may have collided with Bassey as he went to head Gordon’s cross, but the Fulham defender was never winning that ball and nor he or any of his teammates complained. It’s like officials have forgotten that physical contact is part of the game. A perfectly good goal chalked off and it could’ve easily cost us. Thankfully, it didn’t!
West Ham and Everton regret – You can’t have it all, but it was a shame to see West Ham come from 1-0 down to win 2-1 at Wolves, especially when the hosts were denied a stoppage time winner by who other than VAR. We’d have done 7th had they drawn. We’d have also leapfrogged Man Utd by now had we held on against Everton, although seven points from a possible nine is a very solid return following that disheartening FA Cup exit at Man City last month.
There’s a surprise Olly,
Dan Burn is a centre half man of the match for me and he is thriving on playing in his preferred position.
Anderson and Barnes turned the game at the expense of two players (maybe because of injury) in Murphy and Willock who were nowhere near playing to their capabilities against Everton yet were left in the side at Fulham.
Much needed result after Everton, it was interesting that the players were told a few home truths at half time, perhaps this should be done before they start the match because we have had far too many “no shows” away from home this season.
Joseph(Quote)