Top-10 finish would be a ‘miracle’
newcastle united 0 fulham 0
Rafael Benitez has admitted it will be “another miracle” if Newcastle manage to finish in the top half of the Premier League table this season.
The Spaniard guided the club into 10th place at the end of the last campaign – an achievement he described at the time as a miracle – but after another summer of limited investment while those around them spent heavily, believes the degree of difficulty has increased this time around.
Speaking after seeing his team fail to muster a single shot on target in a desperate draw with bottom-of-the-table Fulham at St James’ Park, Benitez was philosophical. He said: “I’m not happy with a point, but I’m happy because we didn’t lose and we have four points from the last two games. I want to win and I want to win every game.
“The problem is you have to be realistic and if you cannot win, be sure you don’t lose these kind of games.
“It’s not easy for anyone here. I was talking last week with people at Huddersfield and we talked about the pressure, a big city, a big club, what it means for us, what it means for them and how you manage this situation.
“Sometimes we make the wrong decisions, but it does not mean that we are not trying to do our best every single game.
“I said after Huddersfield that we have to give credit to this group of players because with all the circumstances here, they are doing well.
“But still, we have to realise that we will be in the bottom half of the table during the whole season because it’s like that, and if we do well and we can higher, it will be another miracle.”
Having seen Aleksandar Mitrovic struggle to find his feet at Newcastle, the hosts ran out acutely aware he has done so since his £27million
summer switch to Craven Cottage, and he served a warning with an early shot which Martin Dubravka saved comfortably.
Benitez’s men started to work their way into the game, although without any great quality until Ki Sungyueng picked out skipper Jamaal Lascelles with a 18th-minute free-kick and saw the defender’s header across goal hacked clear by Denis Odoi.
Dubravka saved Jean Seri’s 41st-minute free-kick and Matt Ritchie saw two shots blocked in quick succession at the other end.
Ritchie picked out Fabian Schar with a near-post corner, but the defender’s header looped over the bar.
Fulham boss Claudio Ranieri was a happier man after seeing his side keep a first top-flight clean sheet of the season at the 18th attempt.
Ranieri said: “At this moment for us, it’s important to get a point, it’s important to have a clean sheet because in the last matches, we have played well and from their first chance, the opponent has scored a goal.
“They made a lot of crosses – 30 – and they shot at goal, but our keeper never had to save anything.
“It’s important not to lose and we have a clean sheet. That is very important.”