KID’S STUFF
16-year-old Sessegnon puts champagne on ice
TEENAGER Ryan Sessegnon was denied a hat-trick by his own boss as Fulham pulled off a stunning win on Tyneside.
The 16-year-old full-back had scored two fine second-half goals when Fulham were awarded a penalty in added time for Paul Dummett’s foul on Gohi Cyriac.
But after the youngster put the ball on the spot, manager Slavisa Jokanovic sent a message to remind defender Tim Ream he was on penalty duty.
So Sessegnon stepped aside and Ream became the fifth Fulham player to miss from the spot this term, dragging his leftfoot shot past the post.
Ream later defended himself after a shedload of abuse on Twitter.
He said: “Not my decision, folks. Was completely prepared to let Sess take it. Embarrassing nonetheless. Manager took the decision.”
Fulham have now missed eight out of 10 spot-kicks this season, but Jokanovic was adamant he made the right call. He said: “Ryan did want to take the penalty but the fact is that we decided that Tim Ream would take the penalties today.”
The late miss could not ruin a wonderful afternoon for Fulham, who spoiled Newcastle boss Rafa Benitez’s first anniversary celebrations and shattered Toon’s 11-game unbeaten run.
As for Sessegnon, it will be a while before he can drink alcohol legally, but bubbly Fulham look a good bet for the play-offs now.
Newcastle had secured valuable wins over their main rivals in the last fortnight, but Benitez denied his players have become too complacent after victories at Huddersfield and Brighton.
He said: “There will be no complacency but we have to learn from that defeat.
“Fulham have good players and we knew that but we allowed them to play and we made too many mistakes. The key now is to see the reaction.”
The first shot of the match came when Fulham captain Tom Cairney, a Toon transfer window target, drove over from 25 yards after neat play from Sone Aluko.
Cairney launched a shot from similar range to put Fulham ahead in the 15th minute, however. The midfielder was virtually unchallenged, just as Aluko and Scott Malone were in the build-up, before he unleashed his effort into Karl Darlow’s top corner.
Newcastle were almost level within a minute, but Dwight Gayle’s run into the box was halted by Tomas Kalas’ last-ditch tackle.
Fulham should have added to their lead but Aluko shot straight into Darlow’s chest with the rest of the goal wide open, before a deflected effort from Neeskens Kebano squirmed narrowly wide.
Aside from a claim for a penalty when Gayle fell under Malone’s challenge, Newcastle struggled to make inroads for the rest of the half. Their best effort fell to Ciaran Clark, whose header was guided over the bar by David Button.
Even Jonjo Shelvey’s normally reliable radar was out of sync and Newcastle were booed off.
The mood was not helped by Fulham’s second goal within six minutes of the restart.
The visitors shifted rapidly through the Newcastle backline until Aluko played the ball in to Sessegnon, who lashed it home.
Aluko was the provider again eight minutes later with a lovely through pass to Sessegnon, who coolly beat Darlow.
Substitute Daryl Murphy scored his fifth goal for the Geordies 14 minutes from time, with a fine strike on the turn, but it could not inspire a comeback.
The key now is to see the reaction from us RAFA BENITEZ