16 mins
DeAndre
Yedlin's cross from the right was missed by two CSKA defenders at the back
post, allowing Salomon Rondon to chest the ball down and fire home from
close range. 0-1
40 mins
Karl Darlow blocked a shot from Fyodor
Chalov but was unable to prevent Abel Hernandez from shooting past him when Fernandes played the ball back in from the byline.
1-1
Half time: CSKA 1
Magpies 1
Full time: CSKA 1
Magpies 1
Rafa Benitez:
"It is a positive because the new
players Barreca and Almiron know the players around them.
"Obviously when you have games, it is hard but we had this chance just after
the transfer window, so it worked out good for everybody.
Three straight wins (starting with a home victory over Huddersfield
Town) followed the Spanish training camp in March 2018, United finished the
season in 10th place.
"If you could offer me that I'll sign for it straight away!
"If we can win some games like we did last year then that would be perfect.
"We have some massive games against Huddersfield, Burnley and West Ham
coming up. We know that if we do well in these games we can win.
"But at the end of the day we have to play to our level, we have to deal
with the pressure then approach the games with the confidence we had last
year.
"After five days with double training sessions it was good to give everyone
45 minutes.
"You could see the tempo was good. I am happy with a lot of things but I think we could have won the game.
We had a lot of chances."
Viktor Goncharenko:
"This is a very useful match for us.
"In previous games we evaluated mainly our attack and it was difficult for
us to form an opinion about defending. Today we were forced to work well in
defence: sometimes the opponent forced us to make mistakes, other times we did
it ourselves, but we had to do it in order to improve our game.
"Rafa is a very open person. He
was keenly interested in what was happening with us, telling how things
were with them. We talked about the experience he gained in English
football, and this man won a lot of titles working with Napoli, Valencia,
Liverpool ... Benitez worked with top teams in all the leading
championships.
"Of course, it is very pleasant to talk with him, especially since he
is open. He told me: 'you can ask any questions, come to me in England,
because when I was young, I also traveled a lot to learn everything, and
asked many questions.'"
Present but not playing were Ciaran Clark and Jonjo Shelvey.
12 of the 22 players used by United here in 2018 were back on show
again today; the ten others being messrs Dubravka, Haidara, Mbemba, Clark,
Merino, Shelvey, Murphy, Gayle plus reserve duo Nathan Harker and Victor
Fernandez.
Traditionally the club of the army, CSKA played their last
competitive game in the Champions League back in mid-December.
Arranging a series of friendly matches in Spain to while away the time before
their domestic season restarts in March, the game against us was their ninth of ten -
they've won seven, drawn two.
|
Waffle |
Newcastle
concluded their Spanish training camp on Saturday with a kickabout at the
Pinatar Arena against the side third in the Russian Premier League who had
also defeated Real Madrid both home and away in the Champions League this
season.
And as was the case when they faced Belgian side Royal Antwerp at the same
venue in March 2018, the game ended in a 1-1 draw - although we only played 90
minutes this year, not 135....
22 of United's 25 man squad got what looked like 45 injury-free minutes under
their belts, in what was a textbook example of a good workout (un buen
entrenamiento as they say in the Byker barrio).
Lining up in their all blue change kit, there were first starts for Antonio
Barecca and Miguel Almiron while goalkeeper Karl Darlow returned from injury for his
first game since the early season League Cup loss at Nottingham Forest.
One familiar face for CSKA was ex-Hull City forward Abel
Hernandez, the Uruguayan in playing the same Tigers side as current Magpies Mo
Diame and Isaac Hayden exactly three years ago.
After a forgettable opening, United took a 16th minute lead when DeAndre
Yedlin's cross from the right was missed by two CSKA defenders at the back
post, allowing Salomon Rondon to chest the ball down and fire home from
close range.
While
facing Russian opposition was a novelty for most of the Magpies party, the
goalscorer was no stranger to CSKA, having done so while playing for both
Ruben Kazan and Zenit St Petersburg - netting for Kazan against them back
in April 2013.
The Russians drew level on 40 minutes when Darlow blocked a shot from Fyodor
Chalov but was unable to prevent Hernandez from shooting past him when
Fernandes played the ball back in from the byline.
United resumed the second half with an entirely different XI, Paul Dummett
returning from injury.
Within three minutes of the restart Rafa's side had a chance to regain their
lead when Joselu's run into the box saw him evade the 'keeper before rolling
his shot towards goal from a narrow angle, only to be denied by a defender's
saving clearance.
A low-key second half almost ended on a high note for United when Yoshinori
Muto had sight of goal from inside the box, but former Russian international
goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev made a save.
Thanks to our man in the stand, GW.