Fulham 2 Newcastle Utd 1: Joe Kinnear's increasingly colourful return to the top flight is likely now to provoke a call from the Football Association after Newcastle's interim manager last night denounced the standard of refereeing in the Premier League as sub-standard and branded the official Martin Atkinson "a Mickey Mouse ref".
Defeat had anchored Newcastle in the bottom three, with Kinnear livid over the decisive penalty which effectively thrust Fulham up eight places having started in 18th. The visiting manager felt Andrew Johnson pushed Claudio Cacapa before eking out the trip from Fabricio Coloccini that earned the spot-kick, though replays of the incident suggested less of a shove and, rather, that both players had been caught off balance, with the Brazilian reacting slower as he attempted to recover.
"If we'd had a proper referee we'd have come away with something," said Kinnear. "It was a blatant foul, a blatant push prior to the penalty, and he ignores it. Johnson completely pushes Cacapa out of the way - straight hands, just a push. Sure, he went over a little bit too easily for a centre-half and then (Coloccini) has made a silly challenge. But it was just a Mickey Mouse ref doing nothing."
The outburst served to sustain the sense that the world is contriving to undermine Kinnear's efforts to revive Newcastle, though the visitors were culpable for their shortcomings. Out-played and out-manoeuvred in the opening half- hour, they had done wonderfully well to recover parity prior to the penalty, dispatched smartly by Danny Murphy.
Michael Owen, shorn of match sharpness, contrived to mistime a side-foot finish on the edge of the six-yard box. His attempt served as a clearance. Newcastle's chances of a point went with it.
Cacapa, a player without a start in over a month, had been scorched long before he inexplicably nodded Jimmy Bullard's innocuous cross on to a startled Coloccini, with the rebound falling kindly for Johnson whose finish was crisp and true and Fulham had the lead their energetic play had merited.
Only when Fulham dozed as the interval approached did Newcastle impose themselves, Damien Duff thumping a shot on to a post. As the hour approached the ball landed at Shola Ameobi's feet off a mixture of John Paintsil and Obafeni Martins. That opportunity could not be passed up.
Fulham might have felt aggrieved with Ameobi having appeared offside, though their sense of injustice was soothed by Johnson's tumble. They are upwardly mobile this morning. Kinnear, in contrast, can only await a call from Soho Square.
• Guardian Service
