Newcastle United rounded off their 2025-26 Premier League campaign with a 2-0 defeat at Fulham, as Issa Diop and Tom Cairney scored in each half.
Eddie Howe initially made two changes from the 3-1 win over West Ham United as Dan Burn and Jacob Murphy came in for Kieran Trippier and Harvey Barnes.
But Howe was forced into a third change just minutes before kick-off as Sandro Tonali injured himself in the warm-up and needed to be withdrawn for Joe Willock.
Newcastle lined up with five at the back as Murphy and Lewis Hall started as the wing-backs with Malick Thiaw, Sven Botman and Dan Burn as the centre-halves.
Diop gave Fulham the lead in the 20th minute when he reacted quickest to head home the loose ball after Kevin’s free-kick cannoned off the crossbar.
Cairney then doubled the hosts’ lead 10 minutes before the end as the Magpies ended the season 12th in the Premier League table.
Here are our Newcastle United player ratings:
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1. Nick Pope - 5
Hit the deck as Kevin’s free-kick cannoned off the crossbar and hardly made an attempt to keep out Issa Diop’s header. Hit and hope with his passes forward. | Getty Images
2. Jacob Murphy - 4
Hooked at half-time as Eddie Howe ditched the five at the back and reverted to a four-man defence. | Getty Images
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3. Malick Thiaw - 5
Struggled to function fully after being moved from centre-back to right-back and then back to centre-back. | Getty Images
4. Sven Botman - 5
Well positioned to cut out a dangerous cross by Kevin early on but lost out several times aerially. | Getty Images