Archive
Pardew: "It Was Always Going To Be About The First Goal"
Written by Newcastle Utd
Manager Alan Pardew gives his reaction to Newcastle's Premier League defeat against Fulham at Craven Cottage
By Anthony Marshall
Newcastle boss Alan Pardew cut a disappointed figure after watching his side slip to a 1-0 defeat away at Fulham on Wednesday night.
Former Magpie Damien Duff grabbed the only goal of the game midway through the second half at Craven Cottage, and Pardew believes it was an uncharacteristically sloppy strike for his defence to concede.
"It was always going to be about the first goal," said the manager, shortly after the final whistle.
"Once they got that they sat on it a little bit and then caught us on the break a couple of times. But up until then we weren't really troubled - we were solid.
"It was a game that was tight on a really difficult pitch.
"We could have passed it better in the first half than we did, but I thought we started the second half better and had a good little spell when we could have scored.
"It didn't come unfortunately, and then the goal was poor on our part. That was very, very unusual for us as we have defended very well since I've arrived."
Newcastle were dealt a major setback inside the opening 15 minutes when striker Shola Ameobi was taken off with a suspected fractured cheekbone.
It could lead to a lengthy spell on the sidelines for the 29-year-old, and Pardew reckons it played a massive part in the evening's outcome.
"It's a massive blow," he said.
"We're going to have to hope Shola's injury isn't as bad as we fear, but losing him early on was significant in the result.
"We've got to work with our strikers now. There's no Shola, no Carroll and we've got to work to make sure we get the best out of the strikers we've got."