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Tiote's Backing For Pal Papiss
Written by Newcastle Utd
Cheick Tiote spoke to nufc.co.uk about the defining moment of United's defeat at Fulham
By Anthony Marshall - Newcastle United Managing Editor
Cheick Tiote reflected on a defining 60-second spell at Craven Cottage, and backed Papiss Cisse to fire Newcastle United back to winning ways next weekend.
The Magpies suffered a 1-0 defeat at Fulham on Saturday in Barclays Premier League action, with Ashkan Dejagah scoring the only goal of the game midway through the second half.
It came immediately after United front man Cisse had spurned a one-on-one opening, seeing Cottagers keeper David Stockdale save his effort before the hosts promptly raced up the other end to break the deadlock.
And while it has been a frustrating season for Cisse, who has just three goals to his name this term, his good friend Tiote knows the Senegalese front man has enough quality to fill the void of an injured Loic Remy.
"The game was 50-50 but then Papiss missed, they scored and that is football sometimes," Tiote told nufc.co.uk.
"We had a good chance and if you don't score then you know the other team will create chances and they may take them.
"That moment decided the game. Normally Papiss would score that chance. That is not like him.
"He is a very good striker and today he missed, but he will score in the next game, I'm sure."
Tiote felt the performance of he and his teammates was not up to their normal standards, with United lacking the sharpness that was so evident last time out at Hull.
But he refused to use the start of manager Alan Pardew's ban as an excuse for the display, and believes it is down to the squad to improve.
"We are disappointed. Everyone is down," explained the midfielder.
"We lost the game and wanted a better result today and a better performance.
"I don't know what went wrong. We didn't feel good, we didn't feel sharp as a team and there was a lot of sloppy passing and tackling.
"Sometimes this happens and you have no idea why.
"It was different without the manager but there was still the same coaching team - JC (John Carver), Stoney (Steve Stone) and Woody (Andy Woodman).
"So I don't think you can say we lost because the manager wasn't on the bench.
"The team have to take responsibility for the way we played."
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