Elanga and Osula ended up playing crucial roles in the build-up to Newcastle’s winner.
Swede Elanga dispossessed Fulham defender Ryan Sessegnon before feeding Osula out on the right.
The Danish frontman has developed into a player who can affect games at this level – scoring against champions Liverpool earlier this season – and he drove forward before cutting inside and letting fly from the edge of the area.
Though Leno made the initial save, Guimaraes was there to knock in the rebound as he stepped up when Newcastle needed their captain most.
That did not go unnoticed by Match of the Day pundit Michael Carrick – not least after Guimaraes played 90 minutes against Benfica in the Champions League on Tuesday night.
“He always provides that leadership on the pitch,” the former Manchester United midfielder told Final Score. “He is their talisman and he creates that extra bit of energy in the stadium by winding the fans up. It’s a big, big goal for Newcastle.”
It was a goal that sent Newcastle up to 10th place.
That is not where they want to finish, of course, but this still felt a significant victory.
Interestingly, Newcastle also started last season with three wins, three draws and three losses in the Premier League before going on to qualify for the Champions League, ending a 70-year wait for a major domestic trophy.
And Howe thinks the “best is still in front of us”.
“We have seen many times, historically, when you score late goals, it’s not just the game that you’ve won that is affected,” he added.
“Hopefully, for us, the mood, even the attitude when you’re in that position again, there’s more belief that you can find a winner, that you’ve got players that can decide games.
“I think it has a big knock-on effect – just like we had to battle the other way. We conceded late at times this year and we had to battle that becoming a habit. To break that today was really important for us.”
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