Marco Silva delighted with Raul Jimenez as Fulham beat Newcastle

Marco Silva lauded Raul Jimenez’s performance after the striker’s stunning half-volley helped Fulham to a 3-1 victory over Newcastle.

Jimenez’s opener marked his second Premier League goal in as many matches before Emile Smith Rowe doubled the Cottagers’ lead.

Harvey Barnes pulled one back for Newcastle after half-time and Fulham held on for large portions of the second half until Reiss Nelson grabbed a third in added time.

Jimenez controlled the ball with his chest and rifled the ball past Nick Pope after Adama Traore’s cross in the fifth minute. This came after his goal against West Ham last week.

Fulham boss Silva said: “It was a great goal from him. It shows that when he’s confident like now he’s capable to do these situations.

“The turn, the rotation from him was top level and it was great. He also had a very good moment which was over the bar, it was tough for him to face big players like Dan Burn but he was fighting and helped the team.

“It was a good performance from him and it’s important for a striker to be scoring the goals.”

Fulham were stunned in second-half added time by Danny Ings last week as West Ham held Silva’s men to a 1-1 draw. The Cottagers were also dumped out of the Carabao Cup in the third round by Preston on Tuesday.

The Portuguese manager praised his side’s positive reaction to a tough week which saw them end Newcastle’s unbeaten Premier League start.

“It was a deserved three points, great work from the lads and it was a great reaction from ourselves,” he added.

“We wanted to show a reaction because we were not fortunate last week and what a reaction it was from ourselves.

“The first half was very good with the way we started and were dominant.”

Magpies boss Eddie Howe believes Saturday’s defeat was the worst Newcastle have played this season.

Goalkeeper Nick Pope fumbled Smith Rowe’s shot for the second goal and Bruno Guimaraes was punished for a misplaced pass by Nelson late on.

“Today was the worst we’ve played,” said Howe. “Especially in the first half, the second half was better.

“In the other games it’s not been perfect but there’s been solidity but today, defensively, we were not good enough and we’re going to work to put it right.

“First half we were too reactive, Fulham played well but we conceded a poor first goal. It’s difficult to go away from home when you give them help and that first half was tough.

“But second half we responded well and chased the game effectively until the end. We need to reflect and analyse that.”