42 mins A corner from the Strawberry Corner was headed back towards goal by Abdul-Nasir Adarabioyo and bouncing harmlessly wide of the near post, until Matt Ritchie inexplicably failed to move out of the way. The ball hit him in the face and ended up in the .

There was a touch of the Steven Taylors about the way Ritchie looked like he'd been hit by a sniper, which unsurprisingly provided much hilarity for non-Newcastle fans. 0-1

Half time: Magpies 0 Cottagers 1

64 mins Jonjo Shelvey began a counter-attack in his own half by feeding Miguel Almiron, who drove forward before finding Callum Wilson.

United's top scorer was tugged outside the area by Joachim Andersen, before further contact from the same opposition player resulted in Wilson tumbling in the box, causing referee Graham Scott to award a penalty.

VAR then intervened and Scott ended up reviewing his own decision on a screen pitchside, upholding the spot kick call and red-carding the visiting defender.

Wilson slipped his penalty past Alphonese Areola who dived left while Wilson hit a low shot centrally into the Gallowgate End goal. 1-1

Full time: Magpies 1 Cottagers 1

"I’m disappointed with the penalty and how it came about, but overall I’ve got real praise for my team.”
 

Seventy-two hours after their heaviest defeat of the season, Newcastle came from behind to claim a point on Saturday night - but looked anything but convincing in doing so.

Unbeaten in their last two games, Fulham went ahead in the 42nd minutes when Bobby Decordova-Reid's flick was heading wide before Matt Ritchie inadvertently diverted it into his own net via his face.

However comical that goal was though, it doesn't obscure the fact that Scott Parker's side had looked far more proficient and motivated than his former employers. 

Parity was restored on 64 minutes when Jonjo Shelvey began a counter-attack in his own half by feeding Miguel Almiron, who drove forward before finding Callum Wilson.

United's top scorer was tugged outside the area by Joachim Andersen, before further contact saw him tumble in the box and Graham Scott award a penalty.

VAR then intervened and Scott ended up reviewing his own decision on a screen pitchside, upholding the spot kick call and showing a second yellow card to the visiting defender, who was booked early in the second half.

Wilson slipped his penalty past Alphonese Areola but that proved to be the high point of the home display, with the opportunity to go on and claim victory totally wasted.

Don't be deceived either by the unfamiliar back four that included DeAndre Yedlin for only the second time this season in the PL and Paul Dummett for the first time since January.

Federico Fernandez failed to return for the second half and Isaac Hayden arrived to partner Ciaran Clark, but despite the unfamiliar personnel on show, our main concerns weren't at the back.

Depressingly, given every opportunity to press home their numerical superiority against a depleted Fulham side happy to settle for a point, we showed nothing and couldn't raise our game one iota.

Passing was aimless and pressure was fitful, while our reticence at pushing into the final third of the field returned - along with dead ball profligacy.

Dwight Gayle was introduced for the closing stages, but never had a sniff of goal - or a pass worthy of the name. The way the ball was lumped forward aimlessly, suggested the players thought Andy Carroll was on, not Gayle.

Having spurned this early Christmas present, Newcastle now have the diversion of Tuesday's League Cup Quarter Final before a trio of horrible league games.

18 points from 13 games looks odds-on to be the same total in a fortnight's time, while it's anyone's guess what the goal difference will be following the combined efforts of Manchester City, Liverpool and Leicester City against a suspect defence.

A poor show then, but only the manager and his staff know the extent to which this deflating display was due to medical issues, or lack of focus and organisation.

That latter issue was there before players starting getting those positive test results....

Biffa