Player Ratings: Newcastle United 2-1 Fulham

The ratings are in for Fulham’s league cup defeat at St. James’ Park.

It was heartbreak at St. James’ Park last night as the Whites crashed out of the Carabao. Here are the ratings.

Benjamin Lecomte

Last time Lecomte appeared in the League Cup we were praising the confidence he exuded in saving penalties against Wycombe. Such confidence wasn’t displayed in this one. He didn’t seem to want to hold the ball, always deciding to parry, punch or fumble. Unfortunately that meant that he firstly parried the ball into Wissa’s path for the opening goal, and then showed no authority for Newcastle’s winner, leaving himself in no-mans-land from a dangerous corner. Decent distribution apart, he’s done himself no favours here. 4.5/10

Kenny Tete

Thought Tete looked like he struggled to be honest. Normally he thrives in one-on-one scenarios but the way Newcastle set up managed to expose Tete in ways others often don’t. Having Livramento coming from an inverted position to overlapping round Barnes who would frequently mix up his runs around Tete caused our Dutchman to look unsure on many times whether to commit to a tackle or stand-off. Bar a decent strike in the final seconds which flew over the bar, it was an uneventful evening for him. 5.5/10

Joachim Andersen

Instrumental in the first half in a lot of what we did, I thought. Frequently tiptoed into the Newcastle half to drop balls over the top of their makeshift right back Miley, which Robinson got loads of joy running on to, including for our goal. His five aerials won and 11 clearances show proof that when the ball came the other way, he was getting his head to everything. Still have those worries over leadership at the back though, he seems to turn it off as a trait when it’s needed most by the team, which isn’t good for a team underperforming defensively and when he’s about to undergo a run of games next to a new central defensive partner. 6.5/10

Jorge Cuenca

As expected really when Cuenca comes in, relatively faultless, just this time he’ll have a far better chance of retaining his spot in the side with Bassey’s trip to AFCON. He seems to have that special Spanish gene of scanning and reading a game to perfection. So often he seemed to snap out a cross or pass between at the very last minute to prevent danger, his 12 clearances was more than anyone out there and proved that to a tee. Lovely player on the ball too, as we know. 7/10

Antonee Robinson

Not anything special but definitely a step up from a fairly worrying performance at Turf Moor. Granted, he’s coming back from a long spell on the sidelines. Physically he looked far more able to get up and down the pitch and show a turn of recovery pace when chasing back towards his own goal. Lovely cross to assist Lukic and got into those same positions over and over again in the first half especially. 6.5/10

Sander Berge

First half I saw a marked improvement in some of the stuff I’ve felt frustrated with regarding Berge’s game. I’ve moaned that for someone with his stature with his engine he should be far more involved in the gritty side of the game and trying to regain possession more. In the first half he was phenomenal in those aspects but faded in the second half as we sat off and were more passive in all ways. 6.5/10

Sasa Lukic

Really hope that he came off as a precaution at half time, we really don’t need any big injuries while three key players are away in Africa. Scored a beautiful header to equalise, timing his run to perfection. Got into some nice pockets of space without really receiving the ball often enough to impact the game more. Matched Berge’s energy well in that first 45 too. 7/10

Harry Wilson

Considering his good run of form, didn’t think he managed to influence this game enough. Tried copying a corner a few times that worked against Burnley but will never work again against competent defenders. In fairness, made a lot of good runs that weren’t found which was frustrating. Backed up Tete well at the other end of the pitch as he often does. 6/10

Emile Smith Rowe

Just like in the game against Crystal Palace, you felt we lost so much impetus when ESR came off. We lost our main presser at one end while also losing the ability to hold onto the ball around the centre circle were we to ever pull off a decent attack late on. Had one decent strike 66 minutes in force Ramsdale into a comfortable save but it was his energy on and off the ball for 73 minutes that was most impressive, he’s recognising his importance to the team at the moment. 7/10 – man of the match

Kevin

I maintain that Kevin is one of those players that, once he scores once, he’ll absolutely fly. There’s so many constant positive signs every time he plays in the ways he can battle physically, has a stunning first touch, tries the occasional trick and goes beyond defenders into superb positions. It’s just the final decision or touch which is now visibly starting to frustrate him as much as anyone else when they don’t come off, which is almost every time he’s in the final third. 5.5/10

Raul Jimenez

Lots of nice little touches, battled well in the air, never stopped trying. Nine weeks out of ten at the moment all you can do is praise Raul’s attitude and effort but he’s being absolutely run into the ground and it’s effecting his ability to frequently get into the box or throw himself into pressing or making runs beyond his centre back, and to be honest, that is not his fault. Regardless, he was quite quiet here. 6/10

Substitutes

Harrison Reed

Thought while Harrison lacked a bit of class on the ball that Lukic could have possessed, there was a lot of positives to take from his 45 minutes. He carried Lukic’s energy into the second half and flew into tackles, got into positions between the lines and showed really good defensive discipline. Not too much to critique for someone not playing very often at the moment. 6.5/10

Adama Traore and Josh King

Came on for the last 20 in place of Smith Rowe and Kevin and didn’t improve us at all. Neither really even tried tracking back, more noticeable in the case of Adama, and King especially failed to control the ball fairly frequently. Hard scenario to come into with how negatively we approached the second half, but still poor cameos from both. 5/10 for both

Jonah Kusi-Asare on in added time so cannot be fairly assessed.

Marco Silva

Truly a game of two halves, but I’ve come away just feeling so negative. The intensity and approach of the first half that had us level when actually I thought we deserved to lead on the balance of play was thrown away in the second half. So often when a potential shot at a cup final or European spot is on the line, Silva’s return to such a negative mentality has failed us and it reared its ugly head for the umpteenth time here. OK, depth is a struggle for the next few weeks - understandable. But the way he set us 20 yards further back as a team for the whole half, trying to get counter attacks going with an ageing striker he’s refused to rest and run into the ground, is infuriating. Once again, he has serious questions to answer. Nothing changes with that man. 4/10