Newcastle lose to Fulham in a fitting ending to a poor Premier League season

[p][b]Both teams were hoping to claim a top-half finish, and it was Marco Silva’s [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/fulham/69ZiU2Om/"]Fulham[/a] who went ahead just before the midway point of the first half when [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/kevin/0hdGrA8L/"]Kevin[/a]’s free-kick from 25 yards struck the crossbar but [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/diop-issa/Eyqbicqr/"]Issa Diop[/a] was alert to head home the rebound. [/b][/p][embed guid="95fbe024-0ad9-4d2d-a3b3-04195958d7d3" url="https://x.com/FulhamFC/status/2058570845358813324" social-type="twitter" /][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/newcastle-utd/p6ahwuwJ/"]Newcastle[/a] responded well after falling behind and gradually grew into the contest through [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/bruno-guimaraes/xtyKanzU/"]Bruno Guimaraes[/a], who was pulling the strings in midfield.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/osula-will/jT765A5D/"]William Osula[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/murphy-jacob/b5WYEjtm/"]Jacob Murphy[/a] both threatened on the counter as the visitors searched for an equaliser, while [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/leno-bernd/jwRV63z0/"]Bernd Leno[/a] was forced into a couple of important saves before the break.[/p][p]Once play resumed for the second half, it was evident this was an end-of-season dead rubber with a clear lack of intensity. Both coaches made changes in an attempt to inject energy but both sets of players were tuned out. [/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/willock-joseph/j3oBtT40/"]Joe Willock[/a] tried an attempt from distance but his weak shot summed up a contest lacking a punch.[/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/cairney-tom/Uqxm6DaI/"]Tom Cairney[/a] made the crowd finally rise from their seats when he produced a bullet from 20 yards, lashing a powerful effort into the top-left corner.[/b][/p][p]In the end, the goals in each half were enough for Fulham to finish off their campaign on a positive.[/p][p]A season that looked highly promising at one stage, with a potential European place within reach, has finished off with a bit of a whimper.[/p][p]The question now is whether Silva will remain at the helm, while [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/howe-eddie/hbOpz9hE/"]Eddie Howe[/a] will be glad the season is over as they look to reset and regroup ahead of the next PL season at Tyneside. [/p][p][b]Flashscore Man of the Match: [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/iwobi-alex/2L5gbR8M/"]Alex Iwobi[/a] (Fulham)[/b][/p][h2][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/fulham-69ZiU2Om/newcastle-p6ahwuwJ/summary/stats/?mid=pWfdGOEc"]Catch up on the match stats with Flashscore[/a][/h2][image alt="Momentum" id="04cc7d68-545b-4cd7-824d-a2869068c6ed" credit-line="Opta by Stats Perform" guid="441ac401-d9b3-4350-bb06-42d967167c63" original-width="1920" original-height="1080" /]