Newcastle reached the halfway point in the season third in the table after an incident-packed second half at SJP on Sunday that saw Aleksandar Mitrovic mess up his penalty before Alexander Isak headed a late winner.

The Magpies took to the field unchanged from Tuesday's League Cup success - Joelinton keeping his place despite a midweek drink-driving incident.

A Fulham side seeking their sixth consecutive league and cup victory made it to the break without conceding; Bernd Leno twice defying Callum Wilson and Sean Longstaff denied by a last-ditch block.

Marco Silva's side then looked set to end our shutout record after VAR reviews of two possible penalty incidents resulted in a 69th minute spot kick award.

An initial incursion into the home area by Andreas Pereira saw him tumble when pulled back by Dan Burn. Bobby De Cordova-Reid and Trippier then clashed a moment later after United failed to clear their lines - although the Fulham man appeared to make first contact before going to ground.

Play was at the other end of the field when belated notice of a VAR review came and a further delay before referee Robert Jones was summoned to the screen in front of the East Stand to rubber-stamp Mike Dean's decision - although it wasn't clear from inside the ground which tackle was penalised.

Aleksandar Mitrovic sent Nick Pope the wrong way from 12 yards, but the Serb was denied a first goal against his former club after illegally striking the ball with both feet, play restarting with our free kick. Outrageous fortune followed the clear let-off from not dismissing Burn for his indiscretion.

With a reinvigorated home crowd roaring them on, United continued to press for the vital goal; Allan Saint-Maximin narrowly off target - the closest we'd come since Fabian Schar's free kick struck a post just past the hour.

Frustratingly through, some fluid approach play from Newcastle wasn't accompanied by crossing to a useful standard; Leno not tested as often as one would have hoped given the amount of goal efforts we managed.

Finally though the breakthrough came in the 89th minute, just as our third 0-0 draw in as many Premier League games began to look inevitable. 

An acrobatic interception just into the Fulham half by Jacob Murphy prompted one more home attack; Trippier, Wilson, Alexander Isak and Murphy again combining to find Longstaff on the right of the box.

His cross to the back post reached Wilson and he reacted quicker than Issa Diop to ping the ball across goal for Isak to nod in from point-blank range.

Having fielded questions about whether Wilson and Isak could play together, Howe saw the pair provide an emphatic answer within 18 minutes of them sharing a pitch for the first time.

Over five minutes of added time included a treble switch by Fulham that seemed to cause general confusion; the BBC alleging that the Newcastle bench told officials their opponents had too many players on the field.

That required a stoppage in play while a head count was conducted, to the evident consternation of Marco Silva - one of several examples of what we're apparently obliged to call "sh*thousery" these days during this game.

Bruno's injury in the first half was followed by a mysterious requirement for Nick Pope to receive treatment, allowing his outfield colleagues to cluster by the home dugout to receive instructions.

Press box occupants meanwhile observed Portuguese speaker Joelinton loitering within listening distance of the Fulham pow-wow, overseen by Portuguese speakers Silve and Luis Boa Morte.  

The penalty decision meanwhile reportedly prompted a home player to tread on the penalty spot before a certain Serbian's misadventure from 12 yards. And what may be evidence that we're keeping abreast of the dark arts as exhibited elsewhere was the appearance of a second ball on the field - one from the Leeds playbook here in December perhaps.

Perhaps the only piece of gamesmanship not deployed was the meddling from substitute Jamaal Lascelles that has already brought him two bookings this season despite not being on the field at either point in time. Surely a third instance would see him on an FA charge?

As the banner displayed said though, "we're not here to be popular, we're hear to compete". We've become canny in a rather different way to the usual meaning of that expression round these parts; somewhat different to our previous ploys of making funny faces in front of the 'keeper at set pieces or sticking a (206 goal) arse out down by the corner flag. 

Press profiles of our manager routinely include reference to his emergence as a defensive coach since leaving Bournemouth, but our collective massaging of the rules is less celebrated. The development of our game management also looks to coincide with the arrival of Kieran Trippier from Atletico Madrid - a slightly different sort of delivery to his crosses and free kicks.

While both he and Schar avoided the booking that would have sidelined them for one match, the news wasn't as good for Bruno Guimaraes. He played much of the first half with an ankle problem and now faces an unspecified time out. His presence in the post-victory dressing room photo was encouraging but he left SJP on crutches with a boot on his right foot.

Another improbable afternoon then in a remarkable season for this club. At the halfway point we're still waiting - as we have been since August - for the stick in the wheel, the upturned rake, the discarded banana skin....for something to go wrong, as it inevitably always has.

Instead we have in our midst a team and a manager who seem to be hell-bent on dispelling decades of disappointments on Barrack Road - Eddie the exorcist casting out demons if you will.

Their first target of the season has almost been attained, that of staying up. Let's see how many more we can nail between now and June.

Biffa