Jacob Murphy’s wonderful late strike was not enough to earn Newcastle victory at Craven Cottage, with Rodrigo Muniz levelling minutes later to earn Fulham a deserved 1-1 draw.

For 79 minutes here, there was almost nothing to stop supporters of Newcastle fearing a slide towards mid-table mediocrity. Then came Murphy’s rocket.

There was no apparent threat when the midfielder picked up the ball just inside Fulham’s half and saw little on in front of him.

All game, visiting fans had craved someone to take responsibility for their team’s blunted attack, and here it was, a brilliant, curling drive into the far corner seemingly to win it.

Alvaro Arbeloa had sent on Muniz in the 65th minute in search of the winning goal. Instead he was on hand to poach the equaliser, taking advantage of a mess in Newcastle’s penalty area to earn a point. It was the least Fulham’s display had warranted.

Only an outrageous save in stoppage time from Lukas Hornicek kept Matthias Jaissle from witnessing his team lose for the fifth time this season, Ryan Sessegnon the player denied a stunning goal from range.

Fulham, finding their feet under Arbeloa, were comfortably the better side. Early on, Dan Burn missed his clearance and the ball ran through to Oscar Bobb who drew a two-handed save from Hornicek. From the corner, Gonzalo Garcia’s header landed on top of the bar.

Newcastle’s approach was that of a team that had conceded four goals in two of their last three away matches, a cautious low block that squeezed Fulham’s room to play but which also limited their own threat to the occasional break.

Bernd Leno saved with his foot from Harvey Barnes’ clever flick at the end of one such foray forward, then the Newcastle winger was denied again by the goalkeeper after catching out Fulham’s high defensive line.

Burn prodded the ball into the net from the corner that followed but was denied for a foul given against Yoane Wissa, to the visible frustration of Jaissle.

Josh King almost celebrated his England call-up by scoring the goal of his young life, Hornicek on hand to beat away a fizzing volley from 20 yards. The 19-year-old ought still to have sent Fulham in ahead at the break, heading Alex Iwobi’s cross wide unmarked in stoppage time.

Newcastle looked to have re-examined their approach over the interval, Barnes firing a decent chance wide, but soon Fulham had them penned in again. Sander Berge fired a foot wide of the post as the defence backed off, and Newcastle were rocking.

Jaissle’s team had led Fulham by six points at the beginning of October but lose here and they would drop below them. They may have been fortunate to escape conceding a penalty when Burn pulled at the arm of Berger bearing down on goal, the referee judging instead it had been fair contact.

It all looked like drifting towards 0-0. Murphy’s goal after the home side let him drive right through their half was good enough to have won it, but Muniz scrambled an equaliser and Fulham deserved their point.