FULHAM midfielder Steed Malbranque celebrated his comeback from injury by heaping further pressure on under-fire Newcastle boss Graeme Souness. Malbranque was making only his second appearance of the last month but the Frenchman showed no rustiness as he buried the only goal of the Premiership match after coming on as a second-half substitute.

The Cottagers should have taken the lead in the eighth minute when a botched clearance only went as far as Tomasz Radzinski, with the Canadian international headed flick-on finding Heidar Helguson. But the Icelandic striker rushed his shot and blasted it straight into the body of Shay Given when the keeper would have been well beaten had Helguson shown a little more accuracy.

Given tipped a fine longrange effort from Radzinski over the bar as Fulham continued to press but Annti Niemi was forced to make to save from Charles N'Zogbia.

Tempers began to fray towards the break with several players going into referee Alan Wiley's book for heavy challenges. The flurry of chances had begun to dry up with the game shifting in favour of a midfield battle, but Luis Boa Morte caused problems around the edge of the Newcastle area.

Radzinski was replaced by Malbranque but the Frenchman's arrival had no immediate impact. Jean-Alain Boumsong nearly opened his Newcastle account in the 71st minute but his side's misery was compounded in the next attack when Fulham finally broke the deadlock.

Collins John tried his luck from an acute angle and forced a fine save from Given - but the ball fell into the path Malbranque, who made no mistake from close range.