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Match Report 2000-01 - Man United (h)
Newcastle 1 Man United 1
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Date: Sat 30th December 2000 3pm.
Venue: St.James' Park Conditions: Blue skies but freezing. Crowd: 52,134 - new record attendance at rebuilt ground. Referee: Mike Riley (Leeds) |
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Teams:
NUFC (normal home kit): Harper,
Barton, Goma, Griffin, Bassedas (Lua Lua 75 mins), Hughes, Speed, Dyer, Solano,
Acuna (Glass 74 mins),
Ameobi (Cordone 74 mins)
Subs Not Used: Given, Steve Caldwell
Booked: Goma (8), Bassedas (34).
Sent off: None.
MUFC (normal home kit): Barthez,
P. Neville, Silvestre (Wallwork 62 mins), G. Neville, Brown, Beckham, Butt
(Chadwick 89 mins), Keane, Giggs, Yorke, Solskjaer (Scholes 70 mins)
Subs not used: Van Der Gouw, Greening.
Booked: Brown, Silvestre, Giggs.
Sent off: None.
Goals:
25 mins. Giggs broke into the area but cut back into Andy Griffin's
path. Griffin tried to nick the ball away but missed the ball. Following
minimal contact. Giggs tumbled and after a moment or two of quiet
contemplation, ref Mike Riley kindly obliged. Beckham smashed the penalty
into the centre of the goal while Steve Harper dived right. 0-1
Half time: NUFC 0 MUFC 1
81 mins. Cordone broke down the right and crossed to Lua Lua who sliced a left-footed shot. It ended up being the perfect pass to Glass at the far post, who stroked the ball past the stranded Barthez. 1-1
Full time:
NUFC 1 MUFC 1
We said:
A delighted Uncle Bobby said:
"When the goal went in, I said to my staff `that will do me, if we don't lose this one, we'll settle for a point.'
"And I think at that stage, Alex would have settled for a point as well because he would have been thinking that they could lose it.
"At the end of the day, it was a diplomatic result. I think it was fair.
"We were never outplayed, we soldiered on and although they had two great moves in the second-half, on both occasions we got bodies behind the ball, people in the box and blocked shots with magnificent defending.
"We had guys who threw themselves in and got us out of trouble when it was on an edge, but other than on those two occasions, we did well against them.
"I said after the Leeds game that those three points were, in my opinion, with Manchester United and Tottenham to come, three points that nobody expected, I guess.
"Now we've got four with Tottenham still to come, and I think we're all pleased with it. We'd have settled for that last Monday."
They said:
Miserable Jock, Taggart, convinced no-one by claiming:
"It's a point gained, I have to say that, a good point. I don't think many teams will win here.
"Newcastle showed an incredible
energy and desire, hunted every ball, fought for everything and I don't
think we deserved any more than we got.
"The only thing I'm disappointed with - apart from the performance
because I think we should be better than that - was that we had the chance
to finish them off after half-time.
"We missed three terrific chances and we've suffered now because of that. If we'd have scored the second goal, we'd have won the game comfortably.
"But they always had something to hang on to and the three substitutions changed the game for them. They got width on the left-hand side and I think they deserved the point fully.
"I think teams will find it very difficult to win up here. I'm surprised they've lost a game here this season.
"Yes, it's a good point for us, an excellent point for us.""
Match Facts:
Our last game of 2000, a year in which we've:
Played 47 games, winning 22, losing 15 and drawing 10.
And finished with a record v's Man United of P3, W1, D1,
L1.
While Bradford visited St.James' 3 times and lost them all.
However, we also failed to beat either Chelsea or West Ham in 3
attempts against each.
Waffle:
The positive signs of a cohesive attacking strategy (ie not lamping it
upfield to a number nine) and togetherness that had brought about a win over
Leeds were happily much in evidence against the champions in the second part
of our festive home double. And to think we dreaded playing the two Uniteds......
Although uncle Bobby still wasn't able to name an unchanged team after a
Marcelino knock saw him give way to Goma, the same fighting spirit was shown
by Newcastle right from the first whistle. Again though, the referees
continued to wage their war against us, as Mike Riley granted a penalty for
the hopeful appeal of Ryan Giggs when Andy Griffin made minimal contact with
the vacant-looking Welshman. Beckham swept home the kick in the absence of
Irwin.
We notice that Riley was in
charge for Man United's home defeat to Liverpool where he incurred the wrath
of Alex Ferguson by sending off young Luke Chadwick. We presume he was trying
to make amends today, and maybe the time that elapsed before he eventually
pointed to the spot was his way of make Fergie sweat a wee bit more, before
handing him his Xmas pressie.
Undaunted by this blatant show of brown-nosing, Newcastle continued to show
the current Premiership champions as little respect as they had in the
corresponding game the previous season, when we triumphed 3-0. However, where
the crosses and set pieces from Solano against Leeds had found their target to
devastating effect, against the reds things were a fraction away. TV
highlights actually showed Ameobi fail to steer in a cross from only a couple
of yards out, but failed to point out that he was penalised for offside.
Mention must be made of the "Match of the Day" highlights,
which recorded in full meticulous detail the period of pressure that the
visitors had at the start of the second half, but inexplicably failed to show
anything other than our late equaliser. Yet again the continuity and flow of
the game were totally distorted and the non-attender left with the impression
that we made one foray over the halfway line and nabbed a jammy equaliser.
The reality was somewhat different, as the never-say-die defending that
prevented a second Manchester goal gradually turned things around and placed
the visitors on the back foot. Of course, to the Old Trafford -worshipping
journalists of certain Sunday papers, the reds simply stepped off the gas and
were content to hold on to their lead. Cobblers.
While not reaching the sonic heights of the previous game, and after having
been outshouted in the first half by predictable insults from the visitors,
the home fans began to find their voices. Their efforts were redoubled with
just over quarter of an hour left, when uncle Bobby went for broke and sent on
Glass, Cordone and Lua Lua.
Finally, something fell for us, and Cordone skipped away down the right onto a
Dyer through ball before crossing to Lua Lua. The youngster made contact with
the ball but his attempted shot screwed straight to Glass who knocked it home.
Cue bedlam on and off the field, and Robson leaping for joy in the manner of
Kevin Keegan - John Carver playing the McDermott role.
In the remaining minutes, Newcastle pressed forward, sensing that the league
leaders had little left, and almost took all three points, Cordone and Solano
just failing to get on the end of dangerous through balls.
The final whistle saw players and fans saluting each other, perhaps unaware of
the size of the Worldwide live TV audience that had tuned in for the fixture
and been impressed by a United performance (although perhaps not from the
United they were expecting.)
Whether the enforced absence of
Shearer and Lee coinciding with our improvement is circumstantial or not,
every player in our team today looked as if they meant it, wanted it and were
prepared to battle for it. One theory could be that they leave the latter to
the likes of Rob 'n' Al when they're there, but voicing that opinion runs the
risk of upsetting the Shearer acolytes among us. Better just to praise the
enthusiasm and stamina of those players less experienced in Premiership
combat, methinks...
In the space of a week, we've gone from a team lacking movement or inspiration
(Derby), to one capable of scoring picture book goals (Leeds)
and bouncing back from setbacks (both home games.) Maybe we were feeling sorry
for ourselves last week, but something has again clicked and we're off and
running again, in a manner not dissimilar to this time last year.
While it's wonderful to see goals coming from our midfielders however, there must be a lingering doubt over when this run will end. Bobby will know more than most how much he needs someone with proven goalscoring ability to lead the line in the coming weeks.
Biffa