Hatem Ben Arfa’s late strike win will be a huge relief for Newcastle boss Alan Pardew, whose side struggled last season and finished fifth from bottom in the Premier League.  Pardew has admitted it has been a hard time for the club after recruiting only Remy on loan and being unsettled by Arsenal’s £10m bid for Cabaye on the eve of their first game of the season against Manchester City.

Both teams struggled early on but the hosts improved after the hour mark when Yohan Cabaye and Loic Remy came on and Papiss Cisse headed against the bar. The hosts had lots of possession and plenty of good build-up play but they were missing the required dynamism in the final third, and Cisse spurned a trio of half-decent chances.

Fulham, who handed Darren Bent his first start, rarely troubled the Newcastle goal, though the on-loan Aston Villa man did come close to getting on the end of Sascha Riether’s near-post cross.  Once Newcastle introduced their firepower from the bench though, they took control of the game and Ben Arfa’s wonderful goal was worthy of winning any contest.

At the end of the game, Newcastle won by a goal to nil.

Watch Ben Arfa strike

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJiXwZPsaW0[/youtube]