Newcastle: Four key talking points from the Magpies' defeat to Fulham - plus reaction from Rafael Benitez

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Ryan Sessegnon’s second-half double followed a first-half strike from Tom Cairney, with Daryl Murphy’s late goal for Newcastle providing precious little comfort as Rafael Benitez’s first anniversary as Magpies manager did not go to plan.

What were the main talking points from St James’ Park?

HOME DISCOMFORTS

Newcastle’s joint-heaviest defeat of the season came courtesy of a surprise scoreline, but it was hardly a shock result given the Magpies’ recent struggles on home soil.

The truth is that Rafael Benitez’s side have struggled at St James’ on a number of occasions this season, and even going into today’s game, their home form was only the seventh best in the league.

They got away with it in their previous home match when they clawed back a two-goal deficit to claim a point against Bristol City – but their luck finally ran out as they were outplayed from start to finish by Fulham.

In the past, Newcastle have found it hard to break down teams who were set up to defend. Today’s game was different though. Fulham had plenty of the ball in the first half, and established a position of dominance through their slick attacking play before cutting Newcastle to ribbons as they broke after the break.

COVETING TOM CAIRNEY

When Newcastle were looking for a central midfielder in the January transfer window, they approached Fulham to inquire about Cairney’s potential availability.

Fulham quoted them a £20m price tag, and Newcastle backed off. At the time, the figure seemed ridiculous. On the evidence of this performance, however, it might not be too far off.

Cairney was sensational as he ran the midfield and completely outplayed both Mo Diame and Jonjo Shelvey. He produced a superb strike to break the deadlock, and punched a series of holes in the Newcastle defence with some excellent through balls.

Even if Fulham were to win promotion this season, it would be hard to envisage him still being on the club’s books at the start of next term. He looks destined for big things in the not-too-distant future.

RIGHT-BACK TO SQUARE ONE

Vurnon Anita is a midfielder who has been press-ganged into playing at right-back this season. For the most part, he has coped reasonably well. But today, his shortcomings were brutally exposed.

Ryan Sessegnon tortured Anita throughout, with his searing pace enabling him to run riot down Fulham’s left-hand side.

Sessegnon might only be 16, but he took his two goals superbly and Anita was unable to get close to the winger as his pace and trickery caused the full-back no end of problems.

It was clear that Fulham had targeted the right-hand side of the Newcastle defence, but with DeAndre Yedlin nursing a long-term injury, it is hard to see what Benitez can do to shore things up. Jesus Gamez played at right-back at Reading, but it is hard to see the Spaniard being the long-term answer.

THE PROMOTION PACK KEEP UP THE PACE

Brighton piled the pressure on Newcastle on Friday night when they cruised to a 3-0 win over Derby County, and this afternoon it was Huddersfield’s turn to show they are not going to give up without a fight.

The Terriers might have suffered a body blow when they lost 3-1 to Newcastle last weekend, but they edged out Aston Villa on Tuesday night and proved their resilience again as they claimed a 1-0 win at Brentford.

That result means they are six points behind both Newcastle and Brighton – but they have a game in hand over both clubs and could yet make things extremely interesting if they maintain their winning run.

Huddersfield’s next game pits them against Bristol City on Friday night, so they could find themselves within three points of Newcastle by the time the Magpies return to action at Birmingham in seven days’ time.

MANAGER’S COMMENTS:

Newcastle manager Rafael Benitez said: “We knew it could be a difficult game, and we knew we had to do well at the beginning and not make mistakes. But we started making mistakes, and we paid for that.

“Fulham are a good team – they passed the ball well and they have pace. We were giving the ball away, and that was giving them the chance to play in the way that they like to play.

“When you have tried and have made mistakes, you have to analyse why. It is not as though the players were not trying in terms of effort. Sometimes, it is just the wrong decision, and that is something we have to improve.

“In terms of effort, you could see we were running and working very hard. When we scored the goal, we were pushing and pushing, but we were making too many mistakes in terms of the decisions in the final third.

“When you are under pressure and you know you have conceded goals and you have to score and the time is against you, then that is when you have to have more experience and character and make the right decision, and we didn’t do it.”

Fulham manager Slavisa Jokanovic said: “We played very good football and we tried to win the game. With our style, we move the ball and we had control. We were more clinical.

“I believe at the end my team deserved the result. It is a great step for us, everything is open, although some teams have more points than what we have right now.  

“I believe Newcastle will be a Premier League team. They play a different style of football - they are physical and a very strong team.

“We are not in a position to think about being a promoted team, but we are going to push hard for the top six. If you have enough strength for this then we have a 25 per cent chance to be a Premier League team next season.”

LINE-UPS:

Newcastle (4-2-3-1): Darlow; Anita, Lascelles, Clark (Gamez 64), Dummett; Shelvey, Colback; Ritchie, Diame (Murphy 61), Atsu; Gayle (Gouffran 74).

Subs (not used): Elliot (gk), Hanley, Perez, Mitrovic.

Fulham (4-2-3-1): Button; Odoi, Kalas, Ream, Malone; McDonald, Johansen (Parker 90); Kebano (Fredericks 84), Cairney, Sessegnon; Aluko (Cyriac 88).

Subs (not used):  Bettinelli (gk), Madl, Sigurdsson, Martin.