Middlesbrough (a) Premiership
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Date: Monday 16th October 2000, 8.00pm Live on Sky Sports Venue: Cellnet Riverside Stadium Conditions: Pitch: greasy. Atmosphere: Sulphuric. Admission: £tbc Programme: £tbc |
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Middlesbrough |
Newcastle United |
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1 - 3 |
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| Half time: | 0 - 1 | |
| Score Sheet: | ||
(90+2) Deane
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Shearer
(38) Goma (56) Dyer (89) |
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Teams |
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Crossley |
Given |
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| Substitutes: | ||
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(45)
Stamp for Fleming (58) Marinelli for Stamp (75) Deane for Mustoe |
LuaLua for Cordone (76) | |
| Subs not used: | ||
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Beresford Vickers |
Harper Marcelino Bassedas Gallacher |
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| Bookings: | ||
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Cooper Karembu |
Hughes | |
| Dismissals: | ||
| None | None | |
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Attendance:
31,463 -
over 3,300 down on the claimed capacity. |
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Goals |
38 mins Nolberto Solano's overhit cross from the right was aimed for our number nine but gathered by Gary Speed, who charged in and beat two defenders to the ball. Despite hitting his shoulder, the lay-off to Alan Shearer was perfect and after a touch to steady himself he beat Mark Crossley with power rather than placement. 1-0
Half time: MFC 0 NUFC 1
56 mins A good spell of pressure ended up with a corner
by Cordone from the United left that Crossley flapped at and missed. A home
defender headed it back to Cordone and before the ball dropped, he side-footed it at pace across
the area. Alain Goma met it brilliantly, to thunder a header into the
left corner of the goal. 2-0
89 mins Lomana LuaLua had a great run and shot saved but Boro fail to clear
properly. Shearer spotted LuaLua unmarked in the box and floated the ball to the
far post for the substitute to nod it back to the unmarked Keiron Dyer.
He took it on his thigh and stroked it into the far corner. 3-0
90+2 mins. There were just 15 seconds of added time left when Shay Given
pushed out a shot from Carlos Marinelli to Brian Deane's feet. The substitute
managed to make indecisive contact
which eventually dribbled over the line. A disappointing end to an otherwise
excellent performance. 3-1
Full time: MFC 1 NUFC 3
We Said |
Bobby Robson:
"We won't win
it
(the title), I don't think we'll win it - that's Manchester
United's or certainly Arsenal.
Liverpool's performance on Sunday will have sent
a few shivers and I think Leeds are coming good with their crop of injuries
getting better, and they're picking up points now.
"I don't think Manchester United will have it all their own way like they
had it much of the way last season. It will be a more fiercely contested
championship.
"But we'll contest it. A year ago, we were bottom, so we've come a long way
in a year. If we finish in the top six, that will be about par for our course, I
think. I would think that would represent a steady season for us, finishing
sixth.
"When I first came, we couldn't win away from home. We hadn't won away from
home for a long, long time. You've got to be a good team to win away from home
in the Premiership, and that's our third victory away from home this season.
That shows how well we've improved and how far we've come.
"It was probably our
best performance of the season. We were good down the flanks, strong in
midfield, always dominant."
Speaking about Lomana LuaLua, he enthused:
"Once he learns that there's only one ball on the pitch and not one for him
and one for the team, he'll be terrific! He has to
learn how to be a team player, but he has such spontaneous ideas in his head,
he's magic.
"We will let him do his party tricks, we
will not take that away from him because he's mesmeric. We have found a
jewel. He's 19 and he's going to be terrific.
Over the years, he'll thrill the Newcastle public, I'm sure."
They Said |
Captain Lager
spoke to the press after keeping
his side locked in the dressing room for an hour:
"I definitely feel that it's a thing about the confidence side and the
self-belief in each individual whichever team I put out.
"For me, that's probably
my most experienced and solid side that I can play, and yet I've still got
people out there who are not not trying and they're not not wanting to do well
in the game, it's just a matter of maybe not taking responsibility on the ball.
"When we go away from home, they're doing that and they're getting on the
ball and they're playing and they're passing and they're enjoying the game.
Here, the nerves are getting to them at the moment and we're not doing the good
things at home that we are away from home.
"But I said to the players that I
thought we were out-played by a better side."
Stats |
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The Magpies remain unbeaten in the Premiership against Boro in nine home and away matches, having won six and drawn three. The black and whites have scored 17 goals and conceded eight. Alain Goma scored his first senior goal for Newcastle. |
Waffle |
It's always a pleasure to beat these lot, with an added bonus of
having it beamed across the globe for those unable to brave the effluent-filled
ecosystem of the Teesside area on doctors orders....
Uncle Bobby was right when he called this our best performance of the season,
and the inadequacies of the younger Robson's rabble shouldn't detract from the
quality and coherence of our display.
Apart from the craft and quality of our goals, the match was won in midfield,
where Speed and Lee anchored proceedings to an extent where Dyer and Solano were
able to find more and more space in forward areas and Domi advanced at will
towards the seemingly stage-struck Karmebeu.
Maybe he was unnerved by the large
printed image of Mrs Karembeu's bosoms hoisted over the heads by home fans
pre-match, but he certainly deserved his labelling by one black and white
onlooker as the most over-rated French player since Guivarc'h.
Up front Cordone (or Cardone according to his shirt name for the second game in
succession) was probably the weak link in the team, but still scored what looked
like a legitimate goal, hit the cross of the night and was unlucky not to set up
another goal seconds before being replaced by Lua Lua.
However, while he
admittedly provided an outlet on the left, too often, in the first half
especially, his runs were of the blind alley variety and his first touch
crucially failed him.
Mention of the diminutive ball juggler from the Congo via Colchester must be
accompanied by a Government health warning: this man will break the spirit of the
opposition on and off the field.
Defenders will weep tears of frustration, while
opposition fans trudge home to kick the cat or seek solace in the ale house. Me
? I worry about what he'll do to Stevie Watson on Saturday - the geordie boy may
be advised to pre-book some trauma counselling sessions....
Quite simply, in 66 minutes spread over three
substitute appearances, this lad has done more to sell those hard-to-shift Milburn
corporate places than a call centre full of dopey marketeers ever could.
LuaLua's perpetual motion style and dribbling prowess is enough to bring broad grins to
the most cynical of Toon fans, and with each touch, shimmy and jinking run, memories of duffers like Maric and Brady are erased.
There must be a nagging doubt that what we're witnessing is a
once-in-a-lifetime spell of artistry, and that he'll return to playing like a
mere mortal. In which case, make sure you see this lad in the flesh soon before
the magic wears off. Comprising of Tino, Ginola and witchcraft in equal parts, the Government
will be trying to ban him soon for inducing mass hysteria with his repetitive
rhythms...
Biffa