Newcastle celebrated their first win under Kevin Keegan with a 2-0 success over Fulham.
Viduka and Owen see off Fulham
Newcastle celebrated their first win under Kevin Keegan with a 2-0 success over fellow strugglers Fulham at St James' Park.
Goals in each half from Mark Viduka and Michael Owen were enough to give Newcastle their first victory since December, which had come against Fulham at Craven Cottage.
Viduka gave Newcastle the perfect start with the opener after just six minutes with a fine finish past Kasey Keller.
Newcastle had to wait until seven minutes from time to make the game safe with Owen heading home Geremi's free-kick to see off Fulham.
The win eases Newcastle's relegation fears, while Fulham remain second from bottom and the defeat stretches their winless run away from home to 32 games.
Tension relieved
The Magpies had got their noses in front after just six minutes when Viduka turned on Geremi's pass to fire a left-footed shot into the bottom corner to relieve the tension.
The Australian then headed horribly wide after 19 minutes, but Obafemi Martins would have hit the target four minutes later had Keller not dived full length to turn his shot away.
The goalkeeper was equally agile with 29 minutes gone to deny Owen from 25 yards, and then had to palm away the striker's close-range header after it deflected off one of his own men.
Abdoulaye Faye sent an overhead kick across the face of goal, but Owen really should have made it 2-0 nine minutes before the break, only to head Geremi's cross straight at Keller.
In the meantime, Newcastle keeper Steve Harper had to make a smart save to keep out Jimmy Bullard's 34th-minute shot after it dipped nastily in front of him, and the Magpies were grateful for the half-time whistle when it arrived with Fulham making a genuine push.
The second half began in much the same fashion with the visitors seeing plenty of the ball, but the home side looking the more threatening.
Mass celebrations
Viduka saw a 49th-minute header blocked at point-blank range after Owen and Joey Barton had combined to open up the Cottagers, and Martins fired just over six minutes later after a pacey run towards goal.
Barton, enjoying one of his better days in the black and white shirt, went for goal himself with 58 minutes gone, hammering a right-footed shot just wide from 25 yards as the Magpies began to build up a head of steam.
Martins had the ball in the net eight minutes later, although from an offside position, and the roar from those who had not spotted the flag spoke volumes about tension levels inside St James' Park.
Geremi almost embarrassed Keller with a 76th-minute shot after the ball ricocheted to him as Owen became involved in a goalmouth scramble, but the second goal simply would not come.
But with seven minutes remaining, Owen timed his run to perfection to meet Geremi's free-kick and glance home a deft header to spark mass celebrations.
| Newcastle United |
Team Statistics |
Fulham |
| 2 |
Goals |
0 |
| 1 |
1st Half Goals |
0 |
| 7 |
Shots on Target |
2 |
| 6 |
Shots off Target |
3 |
| 4 |
Blocked Shots |
3 |
| 6 |
Corners |
4 |
| 8 |
Fouls |
6 |
| 3 |
Offsides |
1 |
| 0 |
Yellow Cards |
1 |
| 0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
| 81.1 |
Passing Success |
80.3 |
| 21 |
Tackles |
31 |
| 81 |
Tackles Success |
83.9 |
| 50.4 |
Possession |
49.6 |
| 47.1 |
Territorial Advantage |
52.9 |
|
