Under-fire Newcastle boss Graeme Souness was finally given something to cheer as the Magpies clinched their first Barclays Premiership victory in eight matches.

Injury, disciplinary problems and poor form have taken their toll at St James' Park with Souness' men plummeting down the table in recent weeks, but they registered an emphatic victory at Craven Cottage.

They took full advantage of some dismal defending from Fulham with Darren Ambrose, Patrick Kluivert and Shola Ameobi on target before Tomasz Radzinski reduced the deficit when the outcome was already decided.

Souness opted to deploy Ameobi and Kluivert up front with club skipper Alan Shearer - who has not scored in his last 10 Premiership outings - failing even to win a spot on the substitutes bench.

But the Magpies - with defender Titus Bramble winning a surprise place in the starting line-up after recovering from a groin injury - hardly missed him as they found the net with efficient ease.

Fulham's performance will have boss Chris Coleman shaking his head in frustration following the impressive 2-0 victory over Everton on Saturday, but consistency has been the club's Achilles heel this season.

Only the suspended Papa Bouba Diop and the injured Collins John were missing from the line-up which outclassed the Toffees - Mark Pembridge and Andy Cole started instead - yet they struggled to find anything like the same urgency.

Their bright opening gave little indication of the shambles to come, however, as Liam Rosenior broke from defence to set up a promising position for Cole on the edge of the area but the he hesitated too long and was collared.

A well-struck free-kick from Mark Pembridge just whistled over the head of Zat Knight with the goal beckoning and moments later Edwin van der Sar pulled off a simple save from Darren Ambrose at the other end.

Knight had made an impressive start, executing one crunching tackle to halt a Newcastle attack dead in its tracks and later cutting out a cross from the right before it could cause any problems.

Rosenior was also catching the eye as he dispossessed Stephen Carr and fed Luis Boa Morte to start one raid but the Portuguese winger's ensuing pass to Tomasz Radzinski was over-weighted.

Newcastle looked the more incisive side moving forward - although only just - and they took the lead with a slick 18th minute move started by Charles N'Zogbia's marauding run down the left flank.

The French midfielder crossed when he reached the corner and the ball found James Milner whose header cannoned off Alain Goma into the path of Ambrose who buried the ball in the back of the net.

Newcastle, clearly buoyed by Ambrose's strike, pressed for a second with Milner almost finding an unmarked Kluivert after giving Rosenior the run around in the right corner.

There was panic in the Magpies' defence in the 34th minute, however, when Cole nudged on a long ball almost into the path of Brian McBride and then moments later Shay Given had to dash off his line to stop Cole scoring.

The Newcastle keeper only palmed the ball as far as Lee Clark but the Fulham skipper saw his looping header climb over the crossbar with no-one at home, allowing the visitors to breathe a heavy sigh of relief.

Carr flashed a lethal ball across the face of goal in the 42nd minute but Ameobi was just inches short of connecting as the Cottagers' defence was carved open once again.

Fulham showed some nice touches shortly after the interval but they gave the ball away with worrying ease, letting Newcastle off the hook when they should have been pressing home the ascendancy they had enjoyed in the opening exchanges of the second half.

Coleman's side were seeing plenty of the ball but they were devoid of ideas as the Magpies' defence dealt with what was thrown at them with routine ease - and then added the second in the 62nd minute.

N'Zogbia fired a perfect corner and Kluivert managed to escape Knight and Moritz Volz - who seemed to impede each other in their eagerness to shadow the Dutchman - and the Magpies striker steered home at the near post.

Former Newcastle marksman Cole was taken off in the 67th minute following an ineffective display - Coleman must have been lamenting John's hamstring injury - and Claus Jensen ran on as his replacement.

Newcastle put the result beyond doubt in the 76th minute when Ameobi headed in a Milner corner with Knight and Goma rooted to the spot in a dreadful piece of defending which will give both players nightmares.

Home fans began leaving in their droves with eight minutes to go but those that did missed a well-worked consolation from Radzinski, who ran on to Rosenior's pass before steering the ball past Given.

Teams:

Fulham Van der Sar, Volz, Knight, Goma, Rosenior, Radzinski, Pembridge, Clark, Boa Morte, Cole (Jensen 66), McBride.

Subs Not Used: Bocanegra, Crossley, Rehman, Pearce.

Booked: Van der Sar.

Goals: Radzinski 86.

Newcastle Given, Carr, Boumsong, Bramble, Taylor, Milner, N'Zogbia, Faye, Ambrose, Ameobi, Kluivert.

Subs Not Used: Andrew O'Brien, Harper, Robert, Brittain, Ramage.

Booked: Taylor.

Goals: Ambrose 18, Kluivert 62, Ameobi 75.

Att: 19,003

Ref: G Poll (Hertfordshire).