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Sporting Lisbon (h) UEFA Cup Group Game 4
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Date:
Thursday 16th December, 2004 Kick-off 7.45pm Live on ITV2 Venue: St.
James' Park |
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Newcastle United |
Sporting Lisbon |
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1 - 1 |
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| Half time: | 1 - 1 | |
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| Score Sheet: | ||
Bellamy (5)
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Custodio (39)
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Teams |
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Given Taylor Hughes Bramble Elliott Ambrose Jenas Milner Bernard Bellamy Ameobi |
Ricardo |
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| Substitutes: | ||
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Andrew O'Brien for Taylor (78) Lewis Guy for Bellamy (79) |
Douala
for Pinilla (66) Tello for Beto (83) |
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| Subs not used: | ||
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Harper Brittain Ramage |
Tiago Pedro Barbosa Sa Pinto Miguel Garcia Danny |
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| Bookings: | ||
Bramble
Ameobi
Hughes |
Liedson Beto |
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| Dismissals: | ||
| None | None | |
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| Referee: Paul Allaerts (Belgium) - unduly fussy at times. | ||
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Attendance: 28,017 - almost 800 more here than for the
Tbilisi game.
Mention must be made again of Lisbon's pea green away shirts with darker
green shorts and socks - an atrocity.
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Goals |
5 mins Craig Bellamy's headed goal at the Leazes End gave us the perfect start, with Sporting 'keeper Ricardo paying the price for standing off his line as the Welsh striker netted his 11th European goal with an arcing header after Ameobi had flicked on Bramble's right wing centre. 1-0
33 mins Rochemback's flighted ball into the box was met by Miguel Custódio, who beat Given with a powerful header - questions being asked again about our marking - or lack of it....1-1
Half time: Newcastle 1 Lisbon 1
Full time: Newcastle 1 Lisbon 1We Said |
Graeme Souness said:
"We were the team that needed a draw to get through and win this
section, and that's exactly what we have done with what was a very
under-strength team, so they deserve a great deal of credit.
"We have worked for the last three days on what type of game we felt it was going to be - we were right about what type of game it was going to be, and the players have done very well today.
"They have done everything we asked of them to do, except win the game.
"It is a learning curve - that is what football is about. We have all been there and you are richer for the experience. It is part of being a professional footballer today.
"That is life as well as football. We are all happy to have nice things said about us and people cheering us, but it is not always possible.
"We have to take everything that comes our way, meet it head on and deal with it and be stronger for the experience.
"The scenario is you want to finish first in the group, and we have done that. We have played some good football along the way.
"This was a different type of game of football for us, and we achieved what we wanted to achieve.
"The reason why we are where we are in the league is because we have not scored enough goals when we have created the chances and we have conceded poor goals.
"What effect this competition and the
amount of games have had, I do not think anyone can put a figure on that.
"They are a good footballing team, they had lots of the ball, which is not
ideal at home, but our goalkeeper has not had to make a save tonight, so we must
have done something right.
"I can understand some of our supporters not enjoying the game tonight because they want us with the ball, they want us on the front foot."
They Said |
José Peseiro said:
“We dominated the game most of the time and could have got a better result
- he said. But we were playing against a team from the Premiership and our
budget is much different from a team like Newcastle.”
Stats |
Qualification for the next stage of the UEFA Cup was confirmed after victory in Sochaux, but the point gained from this
match meant that we finished as group leaders and were pitted against a
third-place team in Friday's draw rather than the tricky prospect of a Champions
League discard.
There was a senior first team debut for striker Lewis Guy at 19 years and four months.
Unbeaten European run at SJP extended to 9 games, since that fateful
night here against Partizan Belgrade last season.
However it's now 6 matches since we last own at home - and the last 3 games at SJP have all ended 1-1.
Waffle |
Newcastle lost their 100% record in the fourth and final UEFA Cup group stage game, but gathered the point required to confirm us as group winners.
However, it was a night that won't live long in the memory of the 28,017 present, with perhaps only first-team debutant Lewis Guy or goalscorer Craig Bellamy remembering this game with any fondness.
Qualification was of course confirmed by our victory in France last month, but there was the matter of securing an advantageous slot in Friday's draw by dint of topping the group.
And after Craig Bellamy had headed us in front on five minutes, the Welsh striker continued to trouble Sporting with his pace and could have doubled our lead on 24 minutes, Ricardo atoning for his earlier error by racing off his line to block Bellamy's effort as he bore down on goal unopposed.
After that though, attention switched to Belgian referee Paul Allaerts, who produced the yellow card three times in six minutes, Bramble, Ameobi and Hughes going into the book as the Portuguese reprised their play-acting performance of pre-season at Gallowgate.
And it was from the Hughes incident on 39 minutes that the visitors levelled - a harmless tangle midway in the United half down the left hand channel leading to the award of a free kick, from which the visitors levelled.
There was almost an instant response from Bellamy, who put another header wide of the goal leaving the scores level at the interval.
But if the first half had provided at least a semblance of entertainment, the second period was as moribund as has been seen on this ground in many a year.
As Bellamy began to run out of steam and take a few more kicks, we disappeared as an attacking force save for the occasional efforts of Bernard, playing tonight in a left-wing role.
Creativity from midfield was zero and once again we were treated to the depressing sight of aimless balls being punted forward to nobody in particular.
And while we were enthusiastic enough at the back, a more direct side than Lisbon would surely have exploited the slack positioning of both Newcastle full backs.
Given the lack of alternatives on the bench, with Shearer, Kluivert, Robert and Dyer all missing, we should be eternally grateful that we didn't need to score any more goals to progress, as we simply failed to create a single chance worthy of the name.
21 year-old reserve striker Lewis Guy made his first team debut for the final eleven minutes, after Bellamy limped off feeling the effects of another heavy tackle.
With Sporting continuing to weave pretty patterns but rarely penetrate our area, the game became ever more tedious and was completed in near-silence as both sides settled for a share of the spoils.
There was some unnecessary booing at the end, but for Souness and his depleted team
it was mission accomplished - just don't dwell too long on the
performance...