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Louise Taylor at The Guardian
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Newcastle (0) 1 Fulham (0) 0
There is a school of thought that suspects it is only a matter of time before Alan Pardew collects a booking for ripping off his shirt in the course of a goal celebration.
That moment moved a step closer when Newcastle United's manager greeted Papiss Cissé's 93rd minute, superlatively volleyed winner by charging down the touchline and leaping into the crowd.
Immediately engulfed by ecstatic fans, he emerged somewhat dishevelled and spent the dying seconds frantically tucking a once crisply pressed white shirt back into his trousers.
"It was a good moment," said Pardew, whose side are now five points clear of the relegation zone. "The celebration emphasised the pressure we'd been under. We'd look nervous, we'd looked tired and we lacked composure. I was carrying a lot of stress. I didn't intend to jump in the crowd, it was something that just happened in my head. I can't put the importance of Papiss's goals into words. You couldn't put a price on it. But we still need more points - we won't be complacent."
After an indifferent opening half and a few local difficulties with the elegantly elusive Dimitar Berbatov, Newcastle - who were denied by the woodwork three times - ultimately deserved to beat Martin Jol's side and thereby relieve the tension ahead of Sunday's home date with Sunderland.
Jol believes Fulham are safe but departed disappointed. "It was hard to take," he said. "The crowd weren't happy, especially in the first half. We could have won."
That opening period was disrupted by an injury to Davide Santon. Barely quarter of an hour had passed when Newcastle's left-back pulled up sharply before collapsing in agony, touching a hamstring. Four physiotherapists helped chair the clearly distressed Italian off.
With Jonas Gutiérrez dropping back to fill Santon's former station, Vurnon Anita stepped off the bench and into central midfield. Anita's introduction prompted Newcastle to abandon a 4-4-2 starting formation and revert to their recent 4-2-3-1 configuration.
When so minded, Berbatov has the ability to unpick the most fiendish of systems and Fulham's Bulgarian striker had begun the afternoon by manoeuvring himself cleverly into space on the edge of the area. From there he directed a subtly curving shot with the outside of his right boot fractionally wide.
Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa initially looked extremely nervous of Berbatov and his ability to drop bewilderingly deep before drifting undetected through defensive blind spots, but the former Montpellier centre-half got a splendid block in on Bryan Ruiz after he had connected with the Bulgarian's fine through ball.
Fulham's breaks, though well rationed, came laden with attacking menace and were emphasised when Tim Krul made a brilliant reaction save to deny Stanislav Manolev at point-blank range following a corner. With Brede Hangeland presenting a formidable central-defensive barrier, a header over the bar from Steven Taylor and a shot curled wide by Cissé represented just about the sum total of the home threat in the first half.
Pardew's problem was that Berbatov was in the mood to have fun at his team's expense. Part of it involved the Bulgarian persistently assuming possession before promptly using it to slow the game down. Granted, he rarely sprinted unnecessarily and sometimes turned a bit sulky when colleagues resisted passing him the ball, but Berbatov still proved that intelligent economy beats workaholism.
It did not help that a mentally jaded, slightly heavy-legged Newcastle were clearly suffering from post-Europa League fatigue in the wake of their 3-1 defeat at Benfica on Thursday.
Spirit, though, is one thing they most definitely do not lack and Anita poured heart and soul into a vicious 25-yard half volley only to see it deflected on to the bar. Suitably inspired, Newcastle galvanised themselves with Sylvain Marveaux highly influential. Mark Schwarzer tipped Cissé's cross-shot on to the woodwork and Taylor headed a yard wide from the ensuing corner. Taylor then showed his cool when dropping to the ground before heading back to Krul under pressure.
Although Gouffran and Cissé then hit posts in swift succession, Jol's players were weathering the storm and Krul performed wonders to keep a Berbatov header out after the Bulgarian had given Danny Simpson the slip following a John Arne Riise free-kick.
Increasingly pensive, Pardew liberated two strikers, Shola Ameobi and Adam Campbell, from the bench. It all seemed to no avail but then Cissé expertly controlled Yohan Cabaye's long-range, deflected drive, then turned and volleyed, the ball arcing over Schwarzer.
At half-time Newcastle's manager had shown Cissé video clips of his first-half mistakes, highlighting the Senegal striker's lack of composure. "I don't usually do that," Pardew said. "Papiss reacted negatively. He was depressed and unhappy with himself. I wondered if I'd done the wrong thing. But then he showed his composure. Berbatov was the only other player on the pitch who could have done that."
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