Maybe Newcastle were distracted by the prospect of reaching Wembley on Wednesday night or perhaps they have simply hit a mid-winter wall. Whatever the reason, one thing seemed crystal clear: Eddie Howe’s players could not cope with Adama Traoré and his friends from Fulham.

The visiting right-winger excelled on the counterattack as goals from the excellent Raúl Jiménez and Rodrigo Muniz consigned Newcastle to a second successive home defeat. Quite apart from denting hopes of Champions League nights on Tyneside next season, it was hardly an ideal dress rehearsal for the midweek Carabao Cup semi-final second leg date with Arsenal here.

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Howe’s side kick off that tie holding a 2-0 advantage but, if they play as carelessly as this, it may well not endure until the final whistle. “It was painful for us,” said a manager who has accepted that the need to comply with Premier League spending rules dictates he cannot reinforce his squad significantly before the transfer window’s closure. “It’s hugely frustrating. I didn’t have many attacking options on the bench. My squad’s thin. But there’s no excuses. We lacked control. We have to, individually, look in the mirror and take responsibility. I didn’t like the feel of us today – we can do a lot better.”

Despite a decent start, Newcastle could not protect a first-half lead and allowed Marco Silva’s intelligent team a route back into a match as vividly entertaining as the victors’ bright purple away strip. Howe described positives as “few and far between” but, initially at least, Jacob Murphy represented one with the right-winger’s 37th-minute shot flying beyond Bernd Leno after he collected Anthony Gordon’s deflected cross.

Although Fulham seemed petrified as Gordon hared down the left wing and Sandro Tonali saw a sumptuous 25-yard volley strike the crossbar, Newcastle were not exactly in control and, significantly, their guests never allowed them to press high.

No matter that Leno was required to make decent saves to deny Fabian Schär and Tino Livramento, the visiting tactic of alternating between the measured passing that Sander Berge specialises in orchestrating and feeding the ever-dangerous Jiménez with inviting long balls to accelerate on to created some awkward moments for Howe’s team. Tellingly, Berge helped ensure that Tonali, one of the better home players, was unable to dictate central midfield matters in a typically imperious mode and the supply lines to Alexander Isak were all too easily severed.

At this stage Silva’s problem was that his team could not quite conjure that important final ball; indeed, perhaps the only time they really looked like scoring in the first half involved Traoré heading Alex Iwobi’s cross wide. Martin Dubravka did not need to make a serious save during that opening 45 minutes but, at the start of the second period, the Slovakia goalkeeper showed off his superior reflexes to brilliantly keep out Emile Smith Rowe’s low shot.

With even Tonali ceding possession too cheaply, Newcastle were looking increasingly slapdash in midfield and, when Calvin Bassey headed a promising chance off target, the sense that Silva’s side could prosper on the counterattack intensified.

The Portuguese’s half-time message evidently had the desired impact as his hitherto shot-shy side seemed on a mission to expose Dubravka’s hidden vulnerabilities. Howe’s goalkeeper was finally beaten by Jiménez’s shot after Tonali lost the ball, Traoré counterattacked at scorching pace and Antonee Robinson’s deflected cross cued up the Mexican.

Howe’s response to Jiménez’s ninth goal of the season was to replace the struggling Joelinton and Livramento with Kieran Trippier and Joe Willock. Yet athough Isak subsequently directed a subtly curving shot against the woodwork and Newcastle appealed in vain for a handball penalty, Leno remained relativelyuntested.

Silva had more luck with his substitutes. A satisfied smile spread slowly across his face as two combined to create the winner when Muniz flicked Andreas Pereira’s clever free-kick past Dubravka. “It’s really difficult to control games against a midfield as good, and as physical, as Newcastle’s,” said Fulham’s manager after his side boosted their European ambitions. “But, most of the time, we succeeded.”