'We fight to the end', says Newcastle 'talisman' Guimaraes

5h ago | Source: BBC

Bruno Guimaraes has scored two goals for Newcastle United this season

Newcastle United were rapidly running out of time.

With 90 minutes on the clock, the hosts were heading for a 1-1 draw against Fulham at St James' Park.

But captain Bruno Guimaraes still believed.

The Brazilian's mentality and fitness were such that he was busting a gut to get into the box to try to affect the outcome.

That gamble paid off when visiting keeper Bernd Leno could only parry substitute William Osula's shot into the midfielder's path and Guimaraes lashed the ball into the net in front of the Gallowgate End to send the stadium into raptures.

"We cannot play the perfect game every time but we need to find the three points and we did this," he said. "This is the Newcastle I know - we fight until the end."

Fulham's players looked understandably disconsolate - and their counterparts know the feeling, having already been on the receiving end of late sucker punches themselves against Brighton, Arsenal and Liverpool this season.

But Eddie Howe's team found a way to take all three points with a dramatic winner of their own on Saturday.

"There's no better way to win," said the Newcastle head coach.

Bench makes major impact

This was an afternoon when others stepped up.

Nick Woltemade had scored four of Newcastle's previous five goals in the Premier League.

However, his side claimed a first top-flight victory this term without their record signing on the scoresheet.

Jacob Murphy opened the scoring - netting his first of the campaign - and the forward was Newcastle's biggest threat in the first half.

He struck the outside of the post in the opening stages and was later foiled one-on-one by Leno when should have doubled the lead.

Newcastle's failure to build on Murphy's opener could have proved costly, but Howe had the luxury of being able to turn to a stacked bench in the immediate aftermath of Sasa Lukic's equaliser.

A triple change - sending on Sandro Tonali, Harvey Barnes and Fabian Schar for Lewis Miley, Murphy and Sven Botman, who had to go off with a cut - was followed by the entrance of energetic forwards Anthony Elanga and Osula late on.

Fulham manager Marco Silva, missing a number of injured players, could not help but hold his hands up.

"They started to take more risks," he said. "They pressed us higher. They put a lot of energy in the frontline. They were able to change all the three players in the frontline.

"They were able to put a player like Tonali in the middle of the park. It's their reality - and it's not our reality right now."

'Belief that you've got players that can decide games'

Elanga and Osula ended up playing crucial roles in the build-up to Newcastle's winner.

Swede Elanga dispossessed Fulham defender Ryan Sessegnon before feeding Osula out on the right.

The Danish frontman has developed into a player who can affect games at this level - scoring against champions Liverpool earlier this season - and he drove forward before cutting inside and letting fly from the edge of the area.

Though Leno made the initial save, Guimaraes was there to knock in the rebound as he stepped up when Newcastle needed their captain most.

That did not go unnoticed by Match of the Day pundit Michael Carrick - not least after Guimaraes played 90 minutes against Benfica in the Champions League on Tuesday night.

"He always provides that leadership on the pitch," the former Manchester United midfielder told Final Score. "He is their talisman and he creates that extra bit of energy in the stadium by winding the fans up. It's a big, big goal for Newcastle."

It was a goal that sent Newcastle up to 10th place.

That is not where they want to finish, of course, but this still felt a significant victory.

Interestingly, Newcastle also started last season with three wins, three draws and three losses in the Premier League before going on to qualify for the Champions League, ending a 70-year wait for a major domestic trophy.

And Howe thinks the "best is still in front of us".

"We have seen many times, historically, when you score late goals, it's not just the game that you've won that is affected," he added.

"Hopefully, for us, the mood, even the attitude when you're in that position again, there's more belief that you can find a winner, that you've got players that can decide games.

"I think it has a big knock-on effect - just like we had to battle the other way. We conceded late at times this year and we had to battle that becoming a habit. To break that today was really important for us."