Questions over whether Álvaro Arbeloa and Matthias Jaissle have what it takes to succeed in the Premier League remain unanswered after these two young foreign managers watched their sides grind out a 1-1 draw at Craven Cottage.
Arbeloa’s Fulham lacked fizz, physicality and personality before rescuing a point thanks to a late equaliser from Rodrigo Muniz, while Newcastle displayed little of Jaissle’s high-octane philosophy and squandered the chance to move into the top half after failing to build on a vicious opening goal from Jacob Murphy.
A second consecutive away win in the league was on the cards when Murphy seized on an error from César Palacios and scored in the 80th minute. Jaissle has faced criticism over his tactics and training methods since replacing Eddie Howe just before the start of the season but the German was happy with elements of this Newcastle performance.
The 38-year-old saw “a complete commitment and togetherness in all phases of the game” and was entitled to argue the visitors had the better chances, an impressive feat given there was such little threat from Jaissle’s front two of William Osula and Yoane Wissa.
It remains a big problem for Newcastle, who are paying for their failure to fill the void left by Alexander Isak’s move to Liverpool last year. They witnessed another half-hearted display from Wissa before the £55m striker’s withdrawal in the 61st minute and were hindered by the bluntness of Osula, whose hopes of grabbing a rare goal were somewhat hindered by his failure to register a touch in Fulham’s area.
To make matters worse Osula was also partially responsible for the leveller. Newcastle needed the 23-year-old to hold the ball up but he was outmuscled near the halfway line, allowing Fulham to pounce. Palacios, who had given the ball away for Murphy’s goal, wriggled into the area and combined with another of Arbeloa’s substitutes by smuggling the ball across for Muniz to score his first league goal since August 2025.
Jaissle felt it was a “slapstick” concession. Arbeloa, who likes to play an expansive style of passing football, focused more on Muniz’s impact after the target man’s introduction in place of the smaller Gonzalo García. “Newcastle were marking us man to man,” Fulham’s Spanish head coach said. “They forced us to play long balls and Rodrigo is very strong in this situation. He got his chance. It is very important for us because I need a player like Rodrigo. He can score goals but create so many chances.”
It is encouraging that Arbeloa was willing to be flexible and more direct. However this was a poor game between two sides too close to the bottom three for comfort. Fulham also fretted over Josh King after the 19-year-old went off with a groin injury. The attacking midfielder is set for a scan and will hope not to have suffered any significant damage after earning his first England call-up on Friday.
Thomas Tuchel will be keen to have King available. Newcastle paid a lot of attention to the teenager, with Sean Steur and Nico González sitting deep in midfield, but they could not keep him quiet during the first half. King tested Lukas Hornicek with a volley from 20 yards and later missed a decent headed chance.
Fulham were not at their best. Oscar Bobb and García went close after an error from Steur but Newcastle were comfortable. Jaissle, who made four changes after accusing his players of not following instructions during last Monday’s defeat by Everton, asked his side to play a patient game and was annoyed when they had a goal ruled out in the 33rd minute. Dan Burn did nothing wrong when he converted a cross from close range, but Wissa was penalised for a holding offence on Timothy Castagne off the ball.
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Jaissle called it a soft decision. Newcastle, who saw Bernd Leno twice thwart Harvey Barnes before half-time, moved on and improved in the second half. They pressed with more intensity and created opportunities for Barnes and Wissa.
Fulham had no out ball with García unable to impose himself against Burn and Malick Thiaw. Palacios came on and was at fault when Newcastle broke the deadlock. The Spaniard played an aimless pass across his own half and was punished by Murphy, who seized possession before driving forward to cut inside and crack a brilliant shot past Leno from 25 yards.
It seemed Newcastle were about to ease the pressure on Jaissle. Fulham had other ideas. Arbeloa praised the defiance. Palacios linked with Alex Iwobi and found Muniz. The ball bounced around the six-yard box and Muniz forced it past Hornicek.
Fulham poured forward in search of a winner. Lewis Hall almost restored Newcastle’s lead, only for Leno to deny the left-back. A draw was fair.
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