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Match Report 2002-03 - Man City (h)
Premiership
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Date: Saturday 18th January 2003, 3.00pm. Venue: St. James' Park Conditions: Fine
(massively improved underfoot.)
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| Newcastle United | 2 - 0 | Manchester City |
| Half time: | 1 - 0 | |
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| Score Sheet: | ||
Shearer (10.25 seconds)
Bellamy (64)
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Teams |
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Given Bernard Caldwell Dabizas Hughes Dyer Solano Jenas Robert Shearer Bellamy |
Nash Dunne Howey Distin Jihai Benarbia Foe Horlock Jensen Goater Anelka | |
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| Substitutes: | ||
| Kerr for Solano (90) |
Belmadi for Goater (60) Macken for Jihai (69) | |
| Subs not used: | ||
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Harper LuaLua Elliott Ameobi |
Murphy Wiekens Ritchie |
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| Bookings: | ||
| None |
Jihai
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| Sendings off: | ||
| None | None | |
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| Referee:
Graham Poll (Hertfordshire). Retired hurt in the second half and was replaced
by C.Webster, the fourth official, who hails from Chester-le-Street. We don't
know whether his sympathies lean towards Tyneside or Wearside, but his only
vaguely contentious decision was to ignore an accident handball by Dabizas in
the United area. Poll seemed in no pain but wandered off the pitch and after a conflab sent on the fourth official, rather than nominating one of the flag-wavers as is often the case. The injured ref then plonked himself down on a chair to undertake the fourth official duties. A member of the toon coaching staff helped him out however, and held up the added time board at the end of ninety minutes. |
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| Attendance:
52,152. Obviously ebullient from the off, the atmosphere from the home ranks
was mostly good, but the travelling fans preferred to exercise their tonsils
with anti-Man U songs and "where were you..." more often than
"come on City." While Howey was ignored as usual, Distin got the dog's abuse from home fans, notably "one greedy b*st*rd" while Nash was treated to the old favourite "Dodgy Keeper". The name of our former manager was on the lips of home fans in the second half........when toon fans sang "Keegan, Keegan what's the score?" United hero was Peter Beardsley, who received the expected excellent reception on the occasion of his 42nd birthday. Keegan's reception was very low-key, with only a small posse of cameramen to confirm he was actually there. Fellow ex-toonies Cox, Fazackerly and Pearce were also on hand but seldom spotted. |
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1 min Within a few moments of picking up his goal of the month award for December's rapier strike against Everton, Alan Shearer was at it again. He charged down a clearance from keeper Carlo Nash after Steve Howey had played the ball back from a City kick-off. A combination of Shearer's knee and hand blocked the ball but he took full advantage of the rebound to pass the ball left-footed into the empty Leazes net. Shearer was the only toon player up until that point to have touched the ball. 1-0
Half time: Newcastle 1 Man City 0
64 mins Once more we broke with pace and purpose, this time Robert scampering down the left flank in front of the East Stand and drilling over a perfectly weighted and directed low cross for Bellamy to slide home at the far post. 2-0
Full time: Newcastle 2 Man City 0
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We Said |
Sir Bobby said:
"I think we've been quite scintillating.
"We got an early goal... and second half we were dynamic, we had a lot of pace, a lot of movement and got a clever goal.
"We were just unlucky not to get, not a bagful of goals, but it could have been three or four in the second half."
"It's quite impossible to score a quicker goal than ten and a half seconds in the Premiership. You couldn't run that far in ten seconds, let alone score. [rash claims, Bob!]
"It was obviously a fortuitous goal, but you have to give credit to Alan."
"He chased the back pass - he could have said 'I won't run, I won't press it, I'll let him have it', but he got close to him and he banged it against him. He scored with his left foot, one of Alan Shearer's rare left-foot goals."
"I thought it was a wonderful game from a spectator's point of
view and as a football match. It was highly entertaining because it
see-sawed from one end to the other."
"You need skill to play in midfield
and brains to play at full-back - and Bernard played with brains against
City. He doesn't always do that. He knew when to play offside, when to
step up, when to go on the cover and when to attack. It was intelligent -
and Aaron Hughes did the same on the other side.
"We looked a good side because of it. That is what I want to see regularly."
"I was worried about Nicos Dabizas because he hadn't played for five or six weeks and was faced with Nicolas Anelka's pace. But he came through very well and we looked solid bearing in mind that he and Steve Caldwell were a new partnership."
"JJ gave an adult performance. The lad is very young but he has that extra something - a player of enormous promise. He is a wonderful boy with a great attitude and we know what he can do. We know his attacking qualities but he can also play defensively when required. That is a sign of maturity in someone of such a tender age.
"He and Kieron were terrific in tandem. Both of them picked up when City had the ball and still had the energy to get forward in support. Dyer pressed Ali Benarbia extremely well. They played five across the middle and we decided to go tight with Dyer and Jenas and allow someone else to come in and pick up their third central man.
"It worked
extremely well and we were in charge of proceedings from the moment Alan
Shearer gave us that early lead."
Alan Shearer commented:
"We had decided to pressurise City right from the kick-off because if
you let them settle on the ball they can be devastating. We knew we had to
get at them which is why I made a bee-line for the ball when Steve Howey
played it back.
"Mind you, I didn't think I had the legs to run half the length of the pitch in 10 seconds. I certainly couldn't have done it late in the game!
"Carlo Nash had a poor first touch and I was able to charge the ball down. It could have gone anywhere but luckily it fell nicely into my path and that was it.
"When something like that happens you get a feeling it's going to be your day!
"I know I won't get Goal of the Month for that effort but it was just as important in its own way."
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They Said |
Kevin Keegan preferred not to give radio or TV interviews after the game, but uttered this:
"They've got a game in hand and you put the three points on and then look at it, and they're right up there. People were talking about Chelsea as title contenders, weren't they?
"There's a long way to go still, but I think last season, Newcastle had a chance of winning the title. There was a period just about February when, if you looked and the table and they'd won the big games, they could have won it."
About his £15m capture, Alan Shearer:
"He's the best, it's a simple as that, not because he's outrageously skilful, not because he's got tremendous flair, but because every single week when you go out there and play against Alan Shearer - it doesn't matter who you are as a defender - you know you're in for a tough afternoon."
"If you keep him quiet, you've played exceptionally well. He's their leader and most teams would die for leadership like that.
"It's lacking in the game today. If you look back 20 years, there were quite a few about. They're a dying breed. He was tremendous today. He and Bellamy were tremendous.
"It's easy to make a signing like that if you've got the money. We paid £15million in one hit for Alan Shearer and people questioned it at the time.
"But you might look on it as the bargain of a lifetime even in the present transfer market, not because of what he's done, but also what he's still capable of doing."
"It was disappointing. Obviously, it was very hard with the start we had to talk of it as a normal game.
"You go out there, you've got the kick-off and the first of their players to touch the ball is Alan Shearer and he puts it in the net from an error.
"But I thought Newcastle thoroughly deserved to win. We didn't get much of a head of steam up today, I don't know why, but we still had chances. I think we were hanging in more than playing well."
"Fair do to Carlo (Nash) it was an horrendous start for anyone but particularly for a goalkeeper who has just come in.,
"He has come in twice before this season and done very well. You could look back at it and say that Steve Howey should have just planted it into their half to start with. He decided to give Carlo a touch and it proved fatal, but these things happen.
"He kept quite a good goal after that. A lot of people might have folded, but apart from one other chance when he slashed it with his left foot from a poor back pass he kept quite a good goal.
"He showed a bit of character which is pleasing as you would have hated it to go the other way."
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Match Stats |
The quickest ever goal of Alan
Shearer's career, the quickest ever Newcastle goal in the top
flight, and the joint quickest ever competitive goal which Al now shares
with Jackie Milburn (v Cardiff at SJP, 22nd Nov 1947 in
Division Two.)
Turning to the Premiership in general, Shearer finds himself outgunned by
a defender, albeit one ten years younger. Ledley King of Spurs
found the net at Bradford on 9th December 2000 in a shade under 10 seconds
in what turned out to be a 3-3 draw. In the Bradford City defence that
day? Andy O'Brien, later to sign for Newcastle.
Our 10th consecutive home win of the season, and we've now extended
our record of never having lost a match in any competition (home or
away) after we've scored first to 101 games. This record began
after
Season 1995-96 when we went into our final match of the season knowing that the title was still a mathematical possibility. Our record was 13 consecutive home wins beginning with a 3-0 romp against Coventry on 19th August 1995 and ending on 4th March 1996 when Manchester United won 1-0 despite us battering Schmeichel's goal.
After that we bounced back with 4 more straight home wins, only to draw that final game 1-1 at home to Spurs, giving us home league figures of P19, W17, D1, L1. So far in season 2002/03 we're P12, W11, D0, L1.
Losing to Leeds means that we won't be able to equal the Championship-winning side of 1926-27, who won 19 home games, but given that was a 42 game season we could yet exceed their record of having lost one and drawn one in their other two games.
We've not drawn at home this season in the Premiership and thus are still on course to equal the feat of avoiding that scoreline that we managed in 1896-97 when in Division Two.
After 23 games last season our record read: Points = 43: W13, D4, L6 (2nd place)
This time out at the same point, we've got to: Points = 42: W13, D3, L7 (3rd place)
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Waffle |
If Newcastle gave a dogged, gritty performance against Liverpool that
reflected the difficult conditions underfoot, then they served up a
display on Saturday worthy of the lush green swathe newly-laid on the
floor of their fortress.
For the umpteenth time this season, the name of Alan Shearer was on the
lips of supporters, management and media folk alike as well as messrs
Howey and Keegan (who probably prefaced with a naughty word....)
But while the Newcastle captain continues to be the scourge of the
Premiership and reinforce the wisdom of his decision to throw in the
England towel week after week, there should be time to praise other,
more-maligned lesser-lights.
It's almost a given that in games when they are available, that good
things are written about Bellamy and Jenas, in particular their appetite
for the fight and stamina. Happily on this occasion the name of Dyer could
be added, for a mature display in which he looked to concentrate on the
game we needed to play on the field, rather than the one he was relaying
in his head.
So, no showboating from the England hopeful, and in a similar way the same
thing could be said about Dabizas, back in the starting line-up after a
period sulking on the sidelines.
While his time in a black and white shirt is undoubtedly ebbing away
and he still threatens to give the fans palpitations, today he played
things straight. No senseless dashes upfield to drag his defensive
colleagues out of kilter; a bare minimum of blitzkrieg-styled challenges
and some awareness of where his fellow defenders were.
Bernard too had one of those games that reminded fans why there was some
anxiety in pre-season when he looked like deserting the Tyne for the
Thames. Too often this season he's looked ineffective when defending and
erratic when going forward, while his attitude was widely questioned both
inside and outside the dressing room in the wake of the Wolves reverse.
Against City though, he managed to strike a balance between providing
support down the left flank in the visitor's half while also remembering
to shut the door at the back through which Ince and Co. had wandered at
will in the FA Cup.
As a whole this was a good team performance that richly entertained the
crowd. As the manager said our play probably deserved to be rewarded with
more goals and it certainly would have fitting if Robert had put either of
his late chances past Nash, as reward for his most industrious performance
in recent months.
Yes, there were still times when his refusal to pass and consequent loss
of possession caused mass exasperation, but in fairness to him he wasn't
alone. Both Bellamy and Shearer were guilty on several occasions of
failing to provide a pass to the Frenchman, who had made rapid strides to
get into dangerous positions.
The suspicion was that this was more than
coincidence, a notion only partially disproved by the embrace from Bellamy
in acknowledgement of Robert's magnificent goal-creating cross. I get the
feeling this whole Robert situation is a long way from being over and done
despite the recent club pronouncements of peace in our time...
Good though we were, before we succumb to notions of total football, it's worth
pointing out that Anelka had little support and Goater played like a man
resigned to losing his shirt in the near future. City created and
missed enough chances to make the cheers that greeted Bellamy's goal at
least partly attributable to relief.
The eternal question remains though. Why can't we reproduce this form on
our travels? We now almost expect to win at home like certain other clubs
who have dust-free trophy cabinets - what handicaps us is the away bit,
and how we seem to succumb to sucker punches too often. A bit like
Manchester City.
At times in this game we broke forward out of defence in a manner that
has seldom been seen on this ground in living memory, even when KK was
leading his "entertainers." The pace of this team is simply
frightening.
While we can and do reproduce this at times on other grounds, too often
we're doing it from a position of weakness, having already failed to keep
a clean sheet. It's no good defending well at home in front of what is
normally a charitable audience if setting foot in someone else's back yard
brings forth an attack of the jitters.
Likeable though our triers are, decades of experience having resulted in
our manager levering funds from the board to bolster his backline - we've
tried to breed consistency in our academy graduate Caldwell, looked for a
cut-price Nationwide solution in O'Brien, speculated substantially on
various highly-rated stoppers and latterly combined all these elements with a burly young bloke from Ipswich.
With the exception of the unproven latter, none of them have been up to
the task on a regular basis.
Now we look to be going the way Keegan went when Shearer was bought - find
the player that fits the mould and to hell with the cost.
It's now over two years and 101 games since we last lost a match that we took the lead
first in - although many of us had given up that record on 99 until JJ
waved his foot at that one in front of the Bobby Moore Stand...
In that time we've had our share of good and bad days domestically and
overseas. And while it's tempting to take heart from the fact Fergie,
Wenger and Ranieri still have to enjoy the away dugout at St.James' this
season, prising points from places we traditionally fail at (the Valley)
while also attempting to maintain our winning runs elsewhere (The
Riverside, Goodison Park) remains of paramount importance.
Our forthcoming opponents may not quite have the home form that we're
currently exhibiting, but while they couldn't win a domino card away from
smogside, the Boro are a different proposition on their own polluted
midden. Likewise Charlton, who have consistently tripped ourselves and
others up since they returned home a decade ago. There are no easy games.
Except maybe down the road.
Twelve months on we should take justifiable pride in being at a similar
level to that which we thoroughly enjoyed last season. But twelve months
on we should be in a better position to push on to really pressurise those
above us. Bellamy is still fit, unlike last year, but still our
defence continues to put pressure on the front runners to pull us out of
the proverbial - we cannot realistically expect comebacks like that at
Derby last season to be repeated on a regular basis.
At home complacency is the enemy, away concentration is the watchword.
Avoiding the former and observing the latter will take us up to where
Arsenal and Manchester United are - two practiced exponents at both arts.