Gabby grabs the winner! Newcastle 1-0 Club Brugge

Obertan celebrates his goal
Newcastle moved into pole position for qualification for the knockout stages of the Europa League by beating Belgian outfit Club Brugge 1-0 at St James’ Park last night.

Newcastle controlled the game for large periods of the match but were unable to put the result beyond doubt leading to some anxious moments for the home crowd.

The home side, sporting their lime green “European” kit, grabbed hold of the game from the off limiting Brugge to counter-attacks that never really amounted to anything. However Maxime Lestienne looked lively on the left of their midfield with has pace and direct running casing some cause for concern on those rare moments when Brugge had possession of the ball in the opening exchanges.

Possession was to be a key highlight of the first half. Newcastle, set in a 4-3-3 formation with the midfield manned by a enforcing trio of Cheik Tiote, Gael Bigirimana and Vurnon Anita, were often n hand to spread the play about, but none of them had the penetration the likes of a Yohan Cabaye or Hatem Ben Arfa could offer. he result was lots of ball retention with not a lot of chances being created for central striker Papiss Cisse.

Inevitably when the first chance was created it fell to our out-of-sorts hitman. Shane Ferguson curled in a delightful left-wing which was inch perfect for Cisse to attack. The Senegal striker connected well with the header although unfortunately it was directed straight at Bojan Jorgačević in the Brugge goal who was on hand to save.

Cisee could perhaps feel aggrieved not have been awarded a “pelanty” shortly after when he was crawled all oer by Brugge defender Carl Hoefkens. Stuart79 summed it up perfectly when he said that “if it had been on the half-way line it would have been a free-kick” in our ‘Game On’ article.

Further chances for Cisse followed. He headed over the bar from 12 yards and then trapped a fine Cheik Tiote ball, turned inside two defenders before skewing his shot well off target. Finally he managed a snapshot from 25 yards out which stung the palms of Jorgačević in much the same way a similar effort from Sammy Ameobi did as the first half drew to a close.

Half-time: Newcastle 0-0 Club Brugge

Alan Pardew made a change at half-time with Vurnon Anita withdrawn in favour of Shola Ameobi which meant a return to a regular 4-4-2, with the logic being to add a bit more pressure on the Brugge defence. However it was the younger brother of Ameobi senior who eventually opened up the Belgian defence just three minutes into the second half.

Ameobi jumior collected the ball inside his own half, with a neat trick, managed to break clear of his Brugge counterpart before sprinting clear and then playing in Gabriel Obertan on the right. The Frenchman showed some uncharacteristic poise by ensuring his first touch took him into the box where he unleashed a fierce right-footed shot into the far corner of the Gallowgate goal. The Brugge ‘keeper did get a hand on the ball but the shot was far too hard for him to handle. 1-0 Newcastle.

Newcastle continued to dominate with really looking like extending their lead. Shane Ferguson and Shola Ameobi both tried to extend the lead from distance but both failed rather miserably.

But the away side weren’t out of it yet and they very nearly got back into the game just after the hour mark. Maxime Lestienne cut into the penalty area and sold Bigirimana the dummy. The former Coventry man bought it up front and slid in only to be left in the wake of Lestienne who saw his shot turn into a cross which Carlos Bacca nodded into the ground before watching the ball bounce agonisingly just over the crossbar.

The match finished off with little goalmouth action to report. Brugge tried to press for the equaliser but were unable to break down United whilst the home side struggled to put the game beyond doubt and in the end that solitary strike from Obertan was enough to secure all three points on Tyneside.

Full-time: Newcastle 1-0 Club Brugge

The result leaves us top of the group on seven points, three points ahead of our closest rivals Bordeaux. Realistically a win and a draw from our remaining three group games will be enough to see us qualify for the knockout although depending on who those results come against will depend on whether those results are good enough for top spot in the group or whether we’ll need to make do with second place and a slightly tougher draw in the next round.

Newcastle: Steve Harper; Davide Santon, Steven Taylor, James Perch, Shane Ferguson; Cheik Tiote, Vurnon Anita, Gael Bigirimana; Gabriel Obertan, Papiss Cisse, Sammy Ameobi

Subs: Tim Krul, Fabricio Coloccini, Yohan Cabaye, Hatem Ben Arfa, Adam Campbell, Shola Ameobi, Demba Ba

Club Brugge: Bojan Jorgačević, Tom Høgli, Carl Hoefkens, Lior Rafaelov, Jordi Figueras, Jesper Jørgensen, Jonathan Blondel, Maxime Lestienne, Bart Buysse, Vadis Odjidja-Ofoe, Carlos Bacca

Subs: Vladan Kujović, Björn Engels, Jannes Vansteenkiste, Víctor Vázquez, Thibaut Van Acker, Björn Vleminckx, Ivan Tričkovski

Attendance: 33,124

About toonsy

A lifelong Newcastle fan and current webmaster of this very 'blog who has the sole aim of creating a place by Newcastle United fans, for Newcastle United fans.

57 thoughts on “Gabby grabs the winner! Newcastle 1-0 Club Brugge

  1. Who said the Toon army will not be taking this cup seriously, if we did win this cup it be great. It seems also that the likes of Liverpool & Spurs are trying to also make it through to the knockout stages, this is what is needed as it gives clubs a chance to blood in the talent instead of spending money on unknowns. I think Pards will have a selection dilemma this Sunday, well done lads, nice to see us top the group with 3 games to go.

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  2. Very pleased for the performances of the youngsters last night. Sammy, Fergie, Bigi, and even Obertan played very well, showing they can mix it up with other professionals.

    A bit worried for Cisse though. He should have had at least one goal last night, if not three! I could see him being dropped again on Sunday. We might even play with Demba as the only recognized striker against West Brom! Ben Arfa, Sammy, and Obertan could all be real threats as attacking wingers, or supporting midfielders further up the pitch! Very excited for that match now

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  3. Toonsy good read and well summed up me old bean, Cisse should have got a “pelanty” 😀 and tbh I think he should have done better with his header, but it will fall into place for him soon 😉

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  4. B+B tbh I thought Sammy had a good game but there was times when he was a bit of a headless chicken, as for Anita I agree with you 100% I just don’t see much from him, yeah it might take him a while to settle but I still don’t see where he fit’s in anyway.
    Andrew I think it would be a massive mistake to drop Cisse, as he won’t get back to where he was and should be until he get’s over his drought and he needs to be playing to get over it

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  5. Nice to see that after 3 games we have the same points as Inter Milan have in their group. I think Pardew will take this competition seriously as it goes on and he should as we have a great chance of progressing to at least the latter stages. If we top the group we probably won’t draw any of the biggest teams right away as well which would help.

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  6. Dave-Fucking Chris Waddle 😈

    Anita also seems better attacking down the wing, than defending in the centre 😕

    Cisse should have done better with his chances, lucky we have the cup to actually give him game time really because we can’t keep carrying him in the league… 😕

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  7. Dave-Not sure, if we’re not going to play with him spearheading a 4-3-3 or we’re not going to drop Jonas in favour of someone more attacking like Fergie then yeah, stick Shola on and see if Cisse comes on as fired up as Ba was at Everton.

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  8. DAVE you keep them right mate,somebody needs too cissie needs to play as does young fergie imo,sammy not right yet needs to work on some things in his game,nice touchs from time to time but needs works on his runs ect

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  9. Newkie I honestly think we need to use him at the front of three with Ba on the left, as it’s not all about Ba. I do think Fergie is starting to offer something we need in the prem and I hate to say that because he would have to take Jonas’s spot, but the Kid deserves a crack at it

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  10. Dave-And what happens if we put Ba out in the left where he’s not a great winger anyway, he creates a few chances and Cisse is wasteful again? Surely you need your on form striker closest to goal?

    I do think that’s the only real chance we have of getting Cisse firing properly, but it depends on what the clubs intentions are. If they want to play Ba in the mid til Jan and have some sort of plan to sort his situation out for good I can sort of understand it. If we are keeping him then presumably we’ll need some sort of formation where both are fairly central-I’ve said time and time again 4-3-3 with Barfa drifting behind the two strikers would the best, Cisse and Ba often run wide anyway, Ba often drops deep receive the ball anyway, Barfa is the same and will seek out space so we won’t be as narrow as it suggests…..

    If we’re not going to move from 4-4-2 then Jonas has to go, I love him but he just doesn’t offer enough offensively and Santon is looking more comfortable game by game…Get Fergie on.

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  11. Basically like Manure, with Barfa where Rooney plays for them. We’ll be like Manchester United! Except we’ll have better defenders and a keeper… :mrgreen:

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  12. Newkie your just copying me now 😀 as thats where I said they should play, the 2 dembas in front with Benny just behind with a free role to cause as much bother as he wants.

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  13. I’m with Newkie. We can’t keep carrying Cisse in the Prem games, and I think Pardew is thinking this now too. He’s obviously not firing like he was last year, so keep starting him in the cup games, and see if he can be a fired-up sub in the Prem to show what he’s got.

    Fergie could start cementing that LB spot in a 433, and if he keeps performing the way he has, he’ll move Jonas out of the starting LW spot when we play 442!

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  14. Dave-I don’t want to bring up the whole, who said what scenario as there’s only trouble there, but I said that form of 4-3-3 back in pre season! And suggested that might be why Anita was signed, to compete/cover for Jonas and Tiote 😉

    Andrew-I agree, Pardew did drop Cisse for the scum match, whatever way you look at it. It was a shrewd move as if it paid off (and it was looking to) then he could site Shola’s record vs the Mackems and Ba’s form as the reason, but he did drop Cisse for a reason..

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  15. think we should have dropped wor al when he went through the odd barron spell,think it would have done a lot to improve his goal-scoring 😮

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  16. Ice-But wor Al was captain and involved heavily in our attacking play through his danger at set pieces, passing and knock down ability even when he wasn’t scoring.

    Cisse just doesn’t have those attributes, when Al wasn’t scoring he could help others score, Cisse just isn’t that type of player. I’m sure he wants to help, but its not his game.

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  17. I was at the game so don’t know why Anita was replaced. Was he being saved for Sunday or was he injured.
    For me the the midfield took too many touches. I am all for keeping posession but there has to be an end product.
    The front three didn’t really work. The players were too rigid one right, one left and one centre. They were far too far apart. Ajax on wednesday gave the perfect example on how to play a three up front fluid and inter changing

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  18. TLR – Surely the reason he was replaced was that Pards wanted to win the game. Anita was having a stinker; he couldn’t tackle, couldn’t pass, and couldn’t keep up.

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  19. NEWKIE goal-scorers are goal-scorers,well what did super-mac ever do to help the team apart from score goals he didnt even know where the half-line was,you just cannot label all players the way you wish them to play 😉

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  20. B&B Do you favour Perchino to play midfield on Sunday. Roy Hodgson cannot continue to ignore him.

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  21. AndrewT
    Your comment about fergie cementing the left back position. Do you play Santon at right back.
    For me Santon has been as good as we’ve had this season along with Colo and Ba

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  22. Ice-that’s exactly what I mean, some strikers can contribute when not scoring-like Ba did on the wing last season. Or like Best did for Ba at the start of the season (as a target man) some strikers don’t have the same attributes. I’m not having a go at Cisse, I respect what he is and I wouldn’t ask him to do something he’s uncomfortable doing-i.e playing out on the wing.

    I’m still happy to play Cisse, but we need changes in other areas of the park if that is to happen, to create more chances for him. If we’re not going to make chances for him then he’s essentially wasted and we are more at risk of losing every game we play.

    I just don’t really see why people were happy to have Ba benched, even wanted him dropped ages before (when he was showing better signs than Cisse) but Cisse is somehow untouchable, not that I’m saying you were one of them Ice, but they were around.

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  23. Newkie from what I have senn of Anita he isn’t up to covering for them at the min, and anyway Perch for me is good enough cover for Tiote and Fergie will cover for Jonas 😉
    Ice most players ex players etc all say that when a striker goes through a barron spell which every striker does that the team and Manager need to stick with them,
    I just can’t see any other way of getting the monkey of their back unless they play, because the sooner he scores the sooner we get him back

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  24. Dave-No, not at the min, but I suggest giving him some time, like Colo. Fergie can’t cover for DMF imo, and that’s where I’d have Jonas in 4-3-3, that’s where Pards had Jonas and Tiote generally, with Cabs being pushed forwards.

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  25. Newkie we should be changing the team to provide more no matter if it’s for Cisse or not that is the main area we have been lacking in this season, as for people wanting Ba benched or dropped tbh I never heard much so there mustn’t have been many or they weren’t shouting to loud 😀

    TLR Fergie isn’t as good a LB as Santon and he isn’t as good a LB as Simmo is a RB so why play him in a position that isn’t his best position or where we need him as much ❓ but playing him on the LW is a different kettle of fish 😉

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  26. DAVE your dead right. not on the same scale but when i was playing even just as a winger you make two or three bad crosses it gets in your mind ime going to make a balls of this next cross more so when the team is having a lean time what do you do you play through it,if ide been benched it would have twice as long to come good again i think its all in the mind,play through it i found 😐

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  27. Toonsy, Great review of the game. I thought we dominated the game and should of had 2 possibly 3 more. For me it was defo a pen but hey this is the same ref who missed Henrys hand goal 🙄 so we should of expected him to miss it really. On the subject of Cisse ,I feel we have to show faith and keep playing him or his confidence will be shattered. He had probably two great chances last night but to be fair their keeper was an excellent shot stopper and it would be remis to say Cisse failed to score and not give the keeper some credit imo. As for Ba ,I don’t see why he can’t play out left ,he’d still get chances and Cisse was most effective in that format last season also someone pointed out the other day that most of Ba’s goals have come left of centre so far this season. I was impressed with Sammi and Fergie last night and Obatan seems perfectly suited to these European games for some strange reason. Bigi was good again but seems to be morphing into Tiote more with each game. Harper was solid in goal and I’m not totally convinced by Anita yet .

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  28. Newkie I never put teams up here but just for you I will 😆

    Krul

    Simm – Saylor- Colo – Santon

    Tiote
    Cabaye Fergie/Jonas

    Benny

    Demba1 Demba2

    I would love to see us set up like this for a try 😀

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  29. Toby – You can’t be serious about Perch? He’s okay, but surely England can find someone better? Besides, he looks more comfortable in defence than in midfield. I might look a complete *** here, but I think it is safe to say that Perch will never get a full England cap.

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  30. B+B I would say you were a *** if you said he would get a cap, I think he is a decent player but an International 😀 unless maybe he has some Faroe or Moldova blood in him

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  31. Dave-exactly, and the person who is the least creative currently in our 4-4-2 is Jonas, you agree with that right? There were early on Dave, but obviously once he started scoring they couldn’t say much 😆

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  32. Dave@36-Aye I’d be happy with that 😀

    My initial hope was Anita would burst onto the scene and allow for

    -backline
    -Tiote-Anita/Jonas
    —–Cabaye——-
    ——Benny——-
    —-Ba—–Cisse

    But we’ll run with yours for now like :mrgreen:

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  33. Newkie @ 42 I would go for that but I think with our 1st choice back 4 we could with my line up with just Tiote holding allowing Fergie and Cabaye to link up more.
    As for Jonas you know how I feel about him so in my team he would make way for Fergie, and in your team Anita would make way for Jonas 😉 ❓

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  34. Was only joking about England but on the other hand England aren’t exactly that good at present.
    If Gareth Barry can get caps for England then anything is possible

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  35. DAVE give richie a break mate he is learning hes down to seven snacks a day between meals now,getting him out bed is still a problem like 😀 his mrs is worn oot

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  36. TLR, definitely put Santon at rb with Fergie playing LB. Offers a lot more offensively, while still staying solid at the back

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  37. Dave-Aye but with my line up, the burden of breaking up play is shared, Tiote is less exposed to picking up the cards, and ideally we have more possession to feed our better players. Fergie is great but imo right now I’d give more time to Benny/Cabaye to create stuff, fergie as an impact player…

    But yes right now I’d have Jonas as DM alongside Tiote…plenty of time for both Anita and Fergie to grow and show us what they can do in respective formations 😀

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  38. Who thinks will start next to Colo, Staylor or Williamson. Both have actually looked the same in defense, but I hope we go with Taylor for his presence in the box for set pieces

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  39. There’s not been much between them, but I’d go for Saylor…even if we did concede as soon as he came on like….

    😆

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  40. Saylor all day long: West brom absolutely killed us with their pace on the counter at SJP last year and i also think we play more football when Saylor and Colo play together as they can both bring the ball out and dont panic hoof it every time its at their feet…

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