Danny Murphy's 100th goal in football gave Fulham a hard-fought 2-1 win over Newcastle at Craven Cottage. Murphy scored from the penalty spot halfway through the second-half after Andrew Johnson had been brought down by Fabricio Coloccini. Newcastle claimed that Johnson had commited a foul in the build-up, but referee Chris Foy didn't spot it and the penalty stood. The result keeps the visitors in the relegation zone, while Fulham move into the top half of the table.

Joe Kinnear's side, who have made a habit of coming from behind in recent weeks, had the home side under severe pressure in the final minutes, but couldn't find an equaliser with substitute Michael Owen missing their best opportunity when he badly skewed his side-foot volley when unmarked from a José Enrique cross.

Roy Hodgson's side had taken the lead in the 23rd minute as a result of the kind of comical Newcastle defending Kinnear has been working hard to rid from his side. A Jimmy Bullard cross was causing no problems to the Newcastle back four until Claudio Capaca's poor header rebounded off the back of Coloccini's head and into the path of Johnson, who made no mistake with his finish.

Damien Duff burst through the Fulham defence only to see his right-footed shot hit the outside of the post, before Shola Ameobi made Newcastle's second-half pressure count when he equalised from close range after 57 minutes. Duff's cross was scrambled into the path of Ameobi and, as Fulham appeared for offside, the big striker swept the ball past Mark Schwarzer in the Fulham goal for his third goal of the season.

Murphy restored Fulham's lead less than 10 minutes later, and although Newcastle had plenty of possession in the closing period, they couldn't make it count and Fulham held on for just their second league win since September.