Former Newcastle United right-back Kevin Mbabu suffered a horror show of a reunion with his old side as the Magpies stuck four beyond 10-man Fulham on Saturday. The Swiss was defender was making his first start for the Cottagers since his £5m summer move from Wolfsburg but couldn't have imagined a worse introduction from the outset.
Mbabu started at right-back but endured a nightmare performance before he was withdrawn for what looked like tactical reasons after only 43 minutes. Joe Willock needed treatment after only four minutes following a late challenge from the Swiss full-back.
Jacob Murphy, a player desperately searching for confidence of his own, ran the defender ragged in the first first-half by driving towards goal with purpose. Mbabu struggled to cope with the United winger, as Eddie Howe's side targeted the left channel repeatedly.
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Eventually, Fulham boss Marco Silva had seen enough and despite already making two changes earlier in the half, the Portuguese coach withdrew Mbabu for Tom Cairney in the 43rd-minute. Mbabu left the pitch having only touched the ball 19 times and failing to successfully complete 50 per cent of his passes.
Mbabu joined newly-promoted Fulham in the summer in what looked like a bargain deal following his European exploits in recent years. However, it has been an underwhelming start to the campaign for the former Newcastle man.
Before today, the 27-year-old had only played 86 minutes across four Premier League games this season. Mbabu also started in the 2-0 League Cup defeat to Crawley Town in August.
Aleksandar Mitrovic is another former Newcastle player who struggled on Saturday afternoon, limping off during the first period. The Serbian appeared to pick up a knock during the international break and failed to impact the game before he made way for Carlos Vinicius in the 37th-minute.
