Fulham 0-2 Newcastle United: Match Report as Toon progress

Eddie Howe's side arrived at Craven Cottage short on confidence but were fully deserving of their 2-0 victory

Goals from Matty Longstaff and Dan Burn earned the Toon the win, and maintains Newcastle's dreams of winning silverware again this season. 

Howe selected the strongest possible side for the cup tie and his selection was certainly justified as Newcastle stamped their authority on the game. 

Jacob Murphy had a golden opportunity to open the scoring within just five minutes on Saturday evening, after Bobby Reid's slack pass gifted him possession inside the area, but he shot straight at Marek Rodak. 

Fulham were masters of their own downfall again 10 minutes later when Anthony Gordon capitalised on another error, and his fierce short from range was just wide of Rodak's post. 

The hosts responded quickly and were incredibly close to the opener when Rodrigo Muniz met Harry Wilson's cross, but Martin Dubravka made a phenomenal save down to his right to keep it 0-0. 

The deadlock was broken on 39 minutes when Longstaff found the corner in somewhat controversial circumstances. 

A cross in from the right wasn't cleared and hit Bruno Guimaraes' arm before falling for the English midfielder, and he slammed it into the corner on his left foot, with VAR approving the goal. 

Newcastle found the net again before half time when Murphy provided a clinical finish after Alexander Isak's through ball sent him in on goal, but this time VAR intervened to show that he was comfortably offside. 

Newcastle did find the killer second goal after half-time, as Burn was left with a tap-in after Rodak saved Sven Botman's initial header. 

Raul Jimenez and Tom Cairney both came close for the hosts late on but they simply couldn't find a way back into the game, with Newcastle seeing it out for a comfortable 2-0 win. 

They will discover their opponents for the fifth round ahead of the Liverpool vs Norwich game at 2pm on Sunday, January 28.