Fulham turned on the style as they dismantled Newcastle United 3-1 on a day where Rafa Benitez celebrated his one-year anniversary, but it was only the away side who left the ground in party mood.

Tom Cairney capped off a masterful quarterback performance with another fine goal while Ryan Sessegnon put in a display well beyond his years with two finely taken goals.

A late Daryl Murphy goal couldn't ruin the party up in the top tier at St James' Park as Fulham closed the gap on the play-offs to only two points, still holding that crucial game in hand which comes against Blackburn on Tuesday at the Cottage.

Here's what we learned as Fulham put in one of the performances of the season.

Tom Cairney is the metronome in this Fulham side

The vice captain was in fine form once again and it's clear that he is the one who makes Fuham tick - near enough everything came through him today and the Newcastle midfield just couldn't get near him.

He took a few knocks as Newcastle went to target him, but he didn't let that stop him from dominating the midfield and his goal was the feather in the cap of yet another stunning display.

Is Ryan Sessegnon really only 16!?

What a performance this was from Sessegnon.

The league leaders, at St James' Park, and the 16-year-old looked as though he was having a kick about with his mates in the park.

He took both goals with the composure a certain goalsorer that used to grace the St James' park pitch would've been proud of and left with every one of the 52,000 people who were at the game talking about him.

The sky is the limit for this talented youngster.

On the ball: Stefan Johansen and Jonjo Shelvey go for a tackle

Fulham are the real deal

This is it, Fulham are the real deal at the moment, make no mistakes about that.

The football they played at times was jaw dropping, I found myself watching in awe at times, unable to take my eyes off the football to write anything about what I was witnessing.

No one wants to play this side at the moment, and with teams around them dropping points they have such a great chance at the play-offs now.

If they make it, the other teams will be crossing their fingers in order to avoid facing Jokanovic's side.

Finally, an assured defensive display

We all know Fulham have had a few dodgy displays at the back and that can be a bit worrying at times.

But today Tim Ream and Tomas Kalas didn't put a single foot wrong all game and they marshaled Dwight Gayle so well you wouldn't have known he was on the pitch.

That's what Fulham need to be the complete team, they're attacking threat is clear for all to see but defensive performances have let them down previously - but not today.