Atsu's Newcastle hammered at home by Fulham

ruth

March 11, 2017 5:31 PM

Teenage full-back Ryan Sessegnon scored twice as play-off chasing Fulham stunned Championship leaders Newcastle with victory at St James' Park.

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Christian Atsu suffered a shocker at home as his Newcastle side crashed to a 3-1 defeat to Fulham.

The 16-year-old slotted in Sone Aluko's backheel after the break and then fired home just before the hour mark.

Tom Cairney had put Fulham ahead with a 25-yard strike into the top corner.

After Daryl Murphy curled in a consolation for the hosts, Tim Ream missed a chance to make it 4-1 when he sent a stoppage-time penalty wide.

Sessegnon appeared to want to take the spot-kick to complete his hat-trick after Paul Dummett brought him down, but USA international Ream took the ball and smashed it past the right post.

Fulham have now won five of their last seven league games and are just two points behind sixth-placed Sheffield Wednesday with a game in hand.

They thoroughly outclassed an out-of-sorts Newcastle side, with skipper Cairney's second fantastic long-range goal in the space of a few days, after his stoppage-time equaliser against Leeds on Tuesday, setting the tone.

However, it was left-back Sessegnon, reportedly being scouted by several Premier League clubs, who provided two moments of composure to seal three points for his side with his fifth and sixth goals of the campaign.

It was a nightmare afternoon for Rafael Benitez's Magpies, a year to the day since the Spaniard took charge, with their advantage over third-placed Huddersfield now down to six points.

But over the past 10 seasons in the Championship, an average of 86 points has been enough to gain automatic promotion, so three more wins could be enough to earn an immediate return to the Premier League.

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