Fulham striker Louis Saha emerged from the players tunnel at Craven Cottage on Saturday sporting a new eye-catching blond haircut and instantly became a golden shot.

The flamboyant Frenchman ended his goalscoring drought with a 25-yard left-foot curler in the 20th minute which put Fulham on their way to a 3-1 win over Newcastle United, who have now not won in London for 27 consecutive matches.

The Whites' other goals came from Sylvain Legwinski and Barry Hayles, while Gary Speed pulled one back for the visitors.

It was Saha's first Premiership goal since he hit two past Manchester United on the opening day of the season and the man-of-the-match who spent six unremarkable loan months at St James' Park two-and-a-half years ago was delighted to get back on the scoresheet.

"It was very special to score and it was one of my favourite goals," Saha told the Fulham club website. "It was a pleasure playing alongside Alan Shearer a few times and his shirt is for my father, who is a big fan of his."

Saha produced a great all-round performance against the Magpies and his improvement as a player was not lost on Shearer, who described Saha as "quick and confident on the ball".

"He was a lot younger and less experienced at New-castle," said the former England captain, who missed a penalty on Saturday game.

Ability

"You could see he had talent and ability, but it might not have been the right time for him because of the players we already had.

"The way Fulham play suits him because they are a good passing side."

Another former Newcastle player Lee Clark was warmly welcomed by both sets of supporters when he came on as substitute for John Collins, while Magpies manager Bobby Robson, who played for and managedthe Whites, also received a magnificent ovation from the Craven Cottage crowd.

Fulham will be hoping to make it four Premiership wins in a row tomorrow when they visit fellow new-boys Bolton Wanderers.

But it will be no easy task as Bolton, under Sam Allardyce, have already beaten Man-chester United and Liverpool this season, and drawn away to Arsenal and Leeds.

However, Fulham who are now 11th in the table are on a high after three consecutive victories over Southampton, West Ham and Newcastle.

November 27, 2001 11:00