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Rotherham United (a) Championship
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Date: Saturday 1st October 2016, 3.00pm. Venue: New York Stadium Conditions: turbulent Admission: £23 Programme: £3 |
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Rotherham United |
Newcastle United |
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0 - 1 |
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| Half time: | 0 - 1 | |
| Score Sheet: | ||
Atsu (41)  |
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Teams |
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Camp |
Darlow |
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| Substitutes: | ||
|
(26) Vaulks for Adeyemi |
Ritchie for Atsu (67) Mitrovic for Gayle (79) Hanley for Diame (87) |
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| Subs not used: | ||
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Price Wood Forde Forster-Caskey Wilson |
Sels Mbemba Yedlin Hayden |
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| Bookings: | ||
Frecklington
Ward |
Diame
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| Dismissals: | ||
| None | None | |
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Attendance:
11,653 with a sold out
away section of 2,587, not far below the New York Stadium record
of 11,758, when the Millers beat Sheffield United in September
2013.
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Goals |
the first for the Mohican...
41 mins Jonjo Shelvey found Christian Atsu on the right wing and the Chelsea loanee beat his man before curling a shot beyond Lee Camp into the far corner of the net in front of the North Stand - similar and similarly stylish to the effort by Norwich's Cameron Jerome at SJP in midweek. 1-0
Half time: Millers 0 Magpies 1
Full time: Millers 0 Magpies 1
We Said |
What a glorious feeling, i'm happy again
Rafa Benitez commented:
"In the end, it’s three points.
"It does not matter what the name of the rival is, you have to try hard and
win.
"The other day (against Norwich City) because of the first half I think we
deserved to win but in the end, we had to get behind them and win it late.
"Today was different to the other day. We had to work hard and we were
pushing and pushing and getting throw-ins and corners.
"We had to keep working and keep organising the team - we have to make sure
we are doing the right things and not making mistakes. We must be sure we
are doing is right.
"For me, football is 11 versus 11. I am happy trying to manage a club that
is so big. You just enjoy doing your job.
"They started with high intensity and pressed really high - it was difficult
for us to keep the ball and pass the ball. The impression of the game was that they were pushing from throw-ins and
corners. They were dangerous.
"If you analyse the stats they had 10 shots and we had 20. We did what we
had to do, defend and pass the ball. We had to play the counter attack when he had to do it. It was a difficult
game against a good team but we did what we had to do.
"It’s always important to win whether it’s before or after an international
break.
"To perform like this and in the week against Norwich is massive for us. It
is big for the confidence for the team - now the players can go away and enjoy with their families.
“When you have an international break you can do nothing apart from work
with the players who are still here. You have to work hard and keep the physical condition. You can adjust
tactically if you can.
"For the others, you can just keep your fingers crossed and wait to see if
they have any injuries.”
On Atsu:
"We did a lot of research to bring him here. My information from Spain was
really good and positive.
"I also spoke to people at Chelsea and they said he was a nice lad. From
what I have seen he is a good professional and he works hard.”
They Said |
Millers boss Alan Stubbs
said:
"We’ve been harshly penalised for their goal. It’s been a
very easy game to officiate but for some reason the man in the middle has wanted
to get involved. Maybe because it’s the headline game on TV he wants some of
the attention.
"He’s got a big one wrong. There are two hands on Frecks. If you see it back, it’s blatantly obvious.
"We have taken the game to Newcastle and, if I am being honest, it has been a
pretty uncomfortable 90 minutes for them.
"We are certainly getting better. On Tuesday we could have taken a point and
today one bit of quality has been the difference between the two teams.
"When you're down there a little bit of luck deserts you but you have to make
your own luck in this game. There were positives out of the display but not out
of the result. For me it was a step in the right direction.
"If they keep performing like they have done in the last couple of games then it
won't be long until they start picking up points. I've got no doubts about
that."
Stats |
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*United have played here at
reserve/junior team level |
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Waffle |
An
eventful eight days for Rafa Benitez and his side ended with no late drama
and a clean sheet that wasn't as inevitable as the form table might have
suggested.
Failing to see the game out at Villa last Saturday had cost United two
points that were promptly regained with interest after a frantic and
memorable finale to Norwich's midweek visit to Tyneside.
Today though was a slog, repeated defending of set pieces enlivened by a New
York minute of individual brilliance from Christian
Atsu. If not quite winning ugly, then it was certainly functional.
The home side had just a single victory from their opening ten league games,
leaving them bottom of the table and in possession of Championship's
leakiest defence and most goal-shy attack.
And their problems showed little sign of easing with Joe Mattock straining a
calf during the warm-up and being replaced in the starting line-up before Tom
Adeyemi limped off in the opening half hour.
There was certainly no lack of effort from Millers, whose reliance on long
throw-ins and issuing ball boys with towels summoned up the ghosts of Stoke
City, Tranmere Rovers and Cambridge United - sadly Matt Ritchie didn't hear
us shouting at him here to emulate Ryan Taylor at the Britannia Stadium and
dry the ball off to waste a few extra seconds near the end....
Ritchie had been taken out of the firing line to give Atsu his first United start,
while Vurnon Anita was restored at right back after suspension but Chancel
Mbemba and Matz Sels remained benched.
An uneventful opening 40 minutes saw United struggle to create
many clear-cut chances, Yoan Gouffran's volley cleared off the line before
the follow-up was blocked, while Jonjo Shelvey blasted another effort narrowly
over Lee Camp's crossbar from distance.
At the other end,
Darlow tipped an effort over from Joe Newell and John Taylor's dipper struck
hit the crossbar with referee Roger East awarding a corner,
presumably for a deflection off Dummett rather than any intervention from
the uncomfortable-looking Darlow.
Dummett's afternoon wasn't to be memorable; a hideous attempt to
trap the ball, followed by a run of misplaced passes and mis-timed tackles.
However he wasn't alone in struggling to make any impact with Momo Diame again
more reminiscent of Shola Ameobi than Moussa Sissoko (although he does share
the latter's distaste at getting involved in aerial challenges).
On the positive side though, both Jack Colback and Ciaran Clark gave a good
account of themselves and the bombardment into the box was meat and drink to
Jamaal Lascelles. Credit also goes to Dwight Gayle though who saw and acted
to prevent Rotherham's attempt at a "pretend corner kick", rushing
from his near post station to whip the now in-play ball away from the corner
flag - home players incredibly
remonstrating with the referee for not penalising the Magpie.
Since the opening night loss at Fulham saw us troop off a goal behind,
United have led all of their away games at half time and today was to be no
exception; four minutes of normal time remaining when Atsu took Shelvey's
pass and cut in from the right before planting a curler in the home net.
The second half followed a
similar pattern with neither side really threatening, Atsu forcing Camp into
a decent stop while Greg Halford's long throws were dealt with by Darlow and his
defence.
Ritchie's introduction for the
scorer made little impact on the match, and although Shelvey
tested Camp, it became clear that a fourth away win of the season would
hinge on a fourth clean sheet.
Aleksandar Mitrovic replaced Dwight Gayle
and Grant Hanley was introduced for Momo Diame as
Rafa tried to shore up the backline - although the withdrawal of Atsu
and Gayle deprived the side of any outlet, giving the Millers encouragement
to bombard the box.
Thankfully the Serbian refrained from repeating his costly cameo at Villa Park, although a 16 minute
stint (including added time) seemed to leave
him physically drained. Maybe he's just bone-idle.
United survived
another set piece that ended with Dominic Ball going close and Gouffran
sliced a clearance that hit Darlow's post before Will Vaulks shot against a
visiting defender from close in.
Rain fell as five additional minutes began but old foe Dexter Blackstock
(whose goal in 2009 beat us 1-0 at Nottingham Forest on a day that Lee Camp
kept a clean sheet) hardly got a kick after his arrival from the bench.
Victory
for leaders Huddersfield
at Ipswich meant we missed out on top spot ahead of the evening kick off between
our last two home opponents, Norwich and Wolves. A 2-1 win for the
Canaries at Molineux then left us where we started the day - in third
position.
The parallels between this victory and the one at Bristol City extend
further than grinding out a 1-0 win over a team in red on a damp day at a
newish ground. Then as now, the performance wasn't always totally
convincing, but the result was all that mattered and all that will be
remembered.
Celebrations on and off the field at full time might have seemed to an
outsider out of proportion to the achievement, but the side maintained
momentum and ended a potentially tricky week on a high note. The singing
-and dancing - in
the rain was deserved.
Niall MacKenzie/Biffa