Matthias Jaissle not amused by ‘slapstick’ moment as Newcastle draw at Fulham
United had to settle for a point on the road.
Matthias Jaissle lamented a “slapstick” moment from his Newcastle side after they gave Fulham’s Rodrigo Muniz a late equaliser at Craven Cottage, minutes after Jacob Murphy had seemingly won the match with a wonder goal.
Chaos inside the Newcastle penalty area, as Dan Burn fell to the ground and everyone else in blue stood and watched, allowed the substitute Muniz to seize upon the absence of control and prod into the corner, rescuing Fulham a point.
That came in the 83rd minute, but only moments earlier a drab 0-0 had been brought to life by the first instance all game of attacking initiative from the visitors, Murphy exploiting hesitant defending to drive from the halfway line and send a thunderous finish past Bernd Leno.
“It’s slapstick, I would say,” said Jaissle of the moment his team threw away two points. “Fortune was also not there in that situation. We controlled everything. It was nothing where we were not focused. Many bodies in the box. It happens.
“These situations at the moment are not going on our side. We need to work on it. Today we made definitely the right step. That gives us confidence now, when the guys hopefully come back healthy from their national teams.”
Murphy’s rocket aside, there was little to reassure supporters of Newcastle who might have been fearing a slide towards mid-table mediocrity.
Fulham had the better of the play and of the chances, Gonzalo Garcia skimming the bar, Oscar Bobb going close and Josh King – a day after his first England call-up – heading a presentable chance wide.
King was also denied on the volley by Lukas Hornicek, but Newcastle’s goalkeeper saved his very best until stoppage time, a stunning save to prevent Ryan Sessegnon winning it from 25 yards.
In the first half, Jaissle had been left fuming on the touchline when Burn’s goal was ruled out for a block on a Fulham defender by Yoane Wissa.
“I learned that phrase here, a soft decision,” he said. “Without taking it as an excuse, but last week, an occasion where (Fabian) Schar was bleeding in the face (against Everton) and then this as a comparison, it’s difficult for me to understand and to digest. But that’s my point of view without paying any fines.”
Fulham look to be finding their feet under Alvaro Arbeloa after a slow start. They are now unbeaten in four, but this team do not score enough goals for the chances they create, and this will be viewed as more points dropped at home.
“We have some problems where we score the first goal and the last minute we didn’t control the game as we wanted to do it,” he said.
“Now I think we are playing much better in the last minute. We are a new team. We are progressing. Small steps. The players are learning. The are improving. We are on the right track.”