Maybe Newcastle were distracted by the prospect of reaching Wembley on Wednesday night or perhaps they have simply hit a bit of a mid-winter wall but, whatever the precise reason, they could not cope with Adama Traoré and his friends from Fulham.

The visiting right winger excelled on the counterattack as goals from Raúl Jiménez and Rodrigo Muniz consigned Eddie Howe’s side to a second successive home defeat. Quite apart from denting their hopes of Champions League qualification it was hardly an ideal dress rehearsal for Newcastle’s midweek Carabao Cup semi-final second leg home date with Arsenal.