Fulham kept their nerve on a day when they started in the bottom three of the Premier League to secure a win that propelled them into the top half of the table.
Newcastle's interim boss Joe Kinner had a rant at referee Martin Atkinson for awarding the 66th minute penalty which ultimately settled the outcome, but in reality he could have few complaints about the 2-1 defeat.
Fulham were decisive and determined from the outset and fully deserved their fourth home win out six, whatever the ungracious Kinnear might say.
The penalty was rightly awarded after Andy Johnson had been tripped by Fabricio Coloccini and claims that the livewire striker had pushed Newcastle defender Claudio Cacapa in the build-up looked like a case of clutching at straws.
Johnson bagged his third goal for the Whites on 23 minutes to give his side an interval lead after pouncing on a defensive mistake. Cacapa headed a cross against his own defender and the ball fell invitingly to Johnson, who made no mistake.
But if there was an element of good fortune, the same could be said of Newcastle's equaliser on 57 minutes. Shola Ameobi was just offside when he turned home a cross from damion Duff that had been touched on by Obafemi Martins.
Roy Hodgson was full of praise for Johnson and, in common with most observers, did not agree with Kinnear's bizarre sense of injustice and tirade against atkinson, who had an excellent match.
"He's a wonderful finisher," Hodgson said of Johnson. "The penalty too was a sharp piece of movement, brave enough to get the ball in the right area and provoking the defender to put his foot in."
"If I was still a national team manager, I'd be interested in what I saw out there," he added in reference to the watching England coach Fabio Capello, who must have been impressed.
