Opinion

We asked Mark Jankowski to give us his match ratings and player comments after Newcastle 2 Fulham 1.

Pope 7

Nick Pope didn’t have an awful lot to do in goal today and there wasn’t an awful lot he could have done to save Fulham’s goal.

He distributed the ball well again with his throws and wasn’t really under any pressure with his kicking.

Trippier 7

Trippier was sloppy with his passing at times, especially in the first half.

However, as the second half wore on , his experience was invaluable in not only our defending but also our attacking play.

Thiaw 7

I was tempted to mark Thiaw an extra point higher. but I couldn’t really separate him a great deal from the other members of the back line, and I don’t feel the overall team performance warranted a score higher than a seven.

He continues to go from strength to strength, however, and looks like he might have been one of the best value signings of 2025.

Botman 7

Botman continues to display the class we all knew he possessed.

Unfortunately, he was forced off today with a head injury, but I’m sure...