Shola Ameobi did what he does better than most players on the planet and converted yet another penalty to keep his spot-kick streak going and United’s Europa League adventure alive.
However Shola shouldn’t be the only one to take some plaudits and at the other end of the pitch Tim Krul more than earned his corn with a succession of fine saves to keep United in with a shout of reaching the last 16. The fact he left the ground on crutches though is not good news and hopefully scans scheduled for when he returns to Tyneside show no lasting issues that could affect his presence in the league.
Newcastle started the match brightly and took control of the early exchanges without really threatening the Metalist goal and had to make do with half chances and nearly moments. Shola Ameobi nearly setup Moussa Sissoko in the opening two minutes but the former Toulouse man was unable to get on the end of Shola’s pass.
Sissoko had another effort on 15 minutes but his shot flew straight at the Metalist ‘keeper before Ameobi saw another effort deflected wide of the Kharkiv goal. United had the game under control and it took the home side 28 minutes to muster their first meaningful attack but Jonathan Cristaldo shot wide of Tim Krul’s goal.
Just before half-time Papiss Cisse had the best chance of the game so far after being played in by Shola Ameobi only to see Goryainov – who denied Cisse three times in the first leg – once again equal to his effort at goal.
Half-time: Metalist Kharkiv 0-0 Newcastle
Eleven minutes into the second-half United had probably their best chance of the game after Sylvain Marveaux and Moussa Sissoko exchanged passes giving Marveaux the chance to find the back of the net or set up a team mate. He did neither as his shot flew over the bar when squaring for Ameobi would have more than likely resulted in a goal.
Yohan Cabaye played in Sissoko on the hour mark but he was unable to shrug off the attention of Metalist defenders and shot harmlessly wide. Just three minutes later though Sissoko was in place to capitalise on a poor back pass from Papa Gueye. Sissoko stormed into the penalty area and was brought down by Goryainov resulting in the award of a penalty which Shola duly struck home sending the goalkeeper the wrong way in the process.
Then came the Tim Krul show as the home side turned on the pressure in an attempt to avoid elimination from the competition. Knowing that they now needed two goals to progress Metalist made some attacking substitutions and put us under pressure, arguably for the first sustained amount of time of the night.
No matter, not when Tim Krul is in the kind of form he was. First he pulled off a double save to deny Cristaldo before James Perch cropped up to clear off the line when Krul looked beaten. Willian was the next to be denied when Krul pushed his header onto the post and in the end the United defence held firm and claimed the result which will see through to the next round.
Full-time: Metalist Kharkiv 0-1 Newcastle
In the next round we will face FC Anzhi Makhachkala (who will now be called ‘Angie’ on here to keep it easy!) of Russia after they defeated Bundesliga outfit Hannover 96 4-2 over the course of their two-legged encounter. The first leg will be played at Dynamo Stadium on Thursday 7th March with the return leg at St James’ Park being played on Thursday 14th March.
Back to the match, I’m glad we’ve gone through but I hope my worst fears haven’t come true and we’ve not lost Tim Krul to injury for a length of time. Yohan Cabaye apparently also picked up a knock and with Cheik Tiote succumbing to illness prior to the match the very last thing we need to see now is our injury starting to grow again.
All eyes will turn to Southampton now where, for me anyway, getting a result is even more important than the one we got last night. Win against the Saints and all is well. We start to pull away from the bottom clubs and can worry less about relegation and start to focus more on the Europa League. Lose though, and we’re back to square one rendering the result last night almost worthless.
Howay the lads!
Metalist Kharkiv: Oleksandr Goryainov; Cristian Villagra, Papa Gueye, Marco Torsiglieri, Fininho; Juan Manuel Torres, Edmar; Marlos, Cleiton Xavier, Jose Sosa; Jonathan Cristaldo
Subs: Vladimir Disljenkovic, Andrey Berezovchuk, Oleg Shelayev, Sebastian Blanco, Jaja Coelho, Oleg Krasnoperov, Willian
Newcastle: Tim Krul; Danny Simpson, Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa, Fabricio Coloccini, Massadio Haidara; Vurnon Anita, Yohan Cabaye; Papiss Cisse, Moussa Sissoko, Sylvain Marveaux; Shola Ameobi
Subs: Rob Elliot, James Perch, Steven Taylor, Dan Gosling, Gael Bigirimana, Jonas Gutierrez, Gabriel Obertan
Attendance: 39,973
B&B
“This game was all about one penalty conversion and one slice of a ball. 😯 ” It’s all a bit silly, isn’t it?
I also found the play going through Shola comment funny. What play was this? What did he create? When did this happen?!
The Kid(Quote)
Santii – What’s the satellite reception like across the water? That cold front must have caused some interference. As long as the Guiness was flowing, fella! 😆 😆 😆 😆
G-neet Mr Blackley. 😉 G-neet Mr Brownlie. 😉 It’s good night from me, and it’s good night from him.
Blackley & Brownlie(Quote)
The Kid – “When 😆 did 😆 this 😆 happen?” 😆 😆 😆 😆 😆
Listen, this is B&B’s Mrs. What have you done to him? What’s this “Santii clown” B&B’s gibbering on about? He’s rolling on the floor and not making much sense. He should have been in bed ages ago. He’s going to be in a right fettle tomorrow. 👿
Blackley & Brownlie(Quote)
Santii I think your becoming the new frank carson 😆 thats a cracker. Or maybe I just watched a different game from you
Big Dave(Quote)
any1 that dosnt think krul was motm must be on the old crack pipe lmao if not for krul we would of lost that 2 v 1 or 3 v1 lmao 😆 poor ameobi scores the winner and still gets slaged off lol 😆
TOONARMYELITE(Quote)
<<<<<<<<<< thinks krul out for 5 weeks is a bitter pill to swallow and hopes caybeye starts sunday as he got knock also,losing both at this stage of the season would be a really bitter pill to swallow
TOONARMYELITE(Quote)
Moreno,
You seem so determined to be right on this one you are blinded to that fact (as Pootle stated) that Shola is neither a striker who gets the job done nor a quality player who contributes elsewhere.
He scored a penalty last night and played ok. But your love for him I simply cannot fathom.
Regardless, your arguement is a bit like saying without Ba we’d be relegated by now.
Its simply not true. Because nobody knows the course of events that would have occured had Ba left in the summer.
We may have played far better as a unit and goals would probably have come from other areas on the park. Perhaps Cisse wouldn’t have lost his confidence. We could well have been better off without Ba’s goals.
Its a whole new set of circumstances, and it would have brought a completely different set of statistics.
I bet you were one the fans over the moon at the arrival of Micheal Owen when he arrived. I was devasted. I hated him as a player. He scores goals but offers NOTHING else. So he’s not my type of player.
Much prefered Craig Bellemy to Owen. He was a more complete play. He was more of a team player.
It’s clear however, despite so others seeing what is clear, that you are someone set in your way of thinking which renders a debate on the Shola issue useless. Lets just agree to disagree on this one.
JJ(Quote)
Love the arguments over who was the worst player for us in our win over the metal heads 🙂 🙂 next there will be arguments over who was the most middle of the road 🙂 🙂
Aussie Magpie Fan(Quote)
Aussiemag@158, I couldn’t disagree more, for me it is without doubt that Anita was the most middle of the road. I’m not sure which game you watched last night 😆 😆
Munich Mag(Quote)
I disagree with Munich although I disagree with Aussie also…I can’t wait until we lose again so we can argue over who was our best player 😐
richietoon(Quote)
<<<<<<<<<<< thinks you all talking **** 😛 bar me that is 😉
TOONARMYELITE(Quote)
Richietoon, how’s it going down your mate. All nice and settled in now ?
Canny win during the week imo, but it’s still worrying how we seem to run out of steam midway through the second half.
Munich Mag(Quote)
TOONARMYELITE@161 they’ll all realise it in the end mate… 😉
Munich Mag(Quote)
😆
TOONARMYELITE(Quote)
Dave – The new Frank Carson has my stomach muscles hurting from last night. 😆 😆 😆
“Drogba isn’t fit to lace Shola’s boots!!!” 😳 There’s some canny comedians in Northern Ireland. 😆 😆 😆
Blackley & Brownlie(Quote)
Munich…going great mate, love it here…though raining at the moment, and surrounded by Germans 😯
I don’t think Thurs was so much running out of steam, more that they had to come at us, they were the home team and to be honest thought there’d have been longer periods than there was of us being under the cosh. 3 points on Sunday(and we’ll get em) and I’ll be owa the moon
richietoon(Quote)
Eminem, fyi, I didn’t watch the game but Cabaye was way more average than Tiote….. 🙂
Aussie Magpie Fan(Quote)
Pardew (Journal):
I’ll be able to freshen it up with some senior players, and I’ve never really had that luxury.
“I’ve now got the luxury of having four centre-halves, three of whom are really playing well. The other guy (Mike Williamson) isn’t really going to get a chance now because the other three are playing so well
BIGPAPA(Quote)
good on ye Pards!
BIGPAPA(Quote)
Love NUFC but there really are some idiots about. We go to Ukraine win 1-0, clean sheet and great team performance yet people cant wait to pull some players up on their performance.
Can’t believe people are saying Cisse and Marv were bad, we were AWAY from home and the amount of work they got through on the wings was unbelievable. Cisse and Marv would be in front of the full backs then having to get up and support in attack. Really it should be CM/CF job to keep ball and allow them time to get up in attack.
BIGPAPA(Quote)
BigPapa….Agreed.
richietoon(Quote)
What about the Williamson quote or the idiots aboot?? 😆 😆 😆
BIGPAPA(Quote)
Big Papa, don’t confuse Richie, he has no idea what he is agreeing with half the time 🙂 🙂
Aussie Magpie Fan(Quote)
both 😆
richietoon(Quote)
I agree with Aussie
richietoon(Quote)
“I only really rested Steven Taylor, and I didn’t really feel that was a case of resting someone because Mapou is at the same level.” Eh? What does that mean? 😯
“I’ve now got the luxury of having four centre-halves, three of whom are really playing well. The other guy (Mike Williamson) isn’t really going to get a chance now because the other three are playing so well.” Is that necessary? What’s Willo going to make of that? 😯
“I don’t see any problem, if say, Colo (Fabricio Coloccini, Newcastle’s captain) got injured, because I could play the other two. I’ll put them all in the frame, but category one is our captain.” Eh? No problem if Colo gets injured? Category one? 🙄
Blackley & Brownlie(Quote)
Poll for the blog:
Cisse continues playing decently, getting into good positions etc, how many goals would he need to score however for you to be satisfied? And how many would mean that you believe we need a new first team striker.
(I believe that we will only sign a young back up striker in the summer if Cisse finds form, no way we will sign a purple that will primarily on the bench).
So, me first. I want 7 goals from Cisse between now, and the end of the season.
Otherwise we can’t wait forever on the basis he’s “getting in the positions”, I’d want a top class striker signing.
SolanosTrumpet(Quote)
I’ve just found my old favourite beer bottle opener that has been missing for the past week.. I can rest easy now, knowing it is safe from harm…. 🙂
Aussie Magpie Fan(Quote)
Pleased you’ve found your bottle opener Aussie. My favourite looks like a door key. It’s snowing nicely over here.
Blackley & Brownlie(Quote)
Cheers B&B, there were some sleepless nights mate 🙂 🙂
Aussie Magpie Fan(Quote)
Pardew has a “category one” bottle opener! He has the luxury of three good ones, and a **** one he’s shoved in the back of some draw. 😆
Blackley & Brownlie(Quote)
ST
If his season total is higher than 12 this season I’ll be satisfied, been a poor year for him but reckon next season he can pick up where he left off in May.
On bottle openers
I’ve got one that looks like a hooded gentleman(a chav).
Andymag(Quote)
“Hooded” as in “uncircumcised” gentleman?
Pards doesn’t see any problem if he loses his category one bottle opener because he has the luxury of another two bottle openers, although they aren’t category one bottle openers and can’t open bottles as well as a category one bottle opener… if that makes sense. 😐
Blackley & Brownlie(Quote)
B&B, all bottle openers are important, never let that fact cloud your thoughts. 🙂 even your 4th choice comes in handy… 🙂
Aussie Magpie Fan(Quote)
B&B, how is your bro doing?? Has he finshed his social experiment on whether this blog will survive without his comical & insightful input? 🙂 🙂 🙂
Aussie Magpie Fan(Quote)
Funny because Pards used one of his two luxury bottle openers with his category one bottle opener the other night, and didn’t use his other luxury bottle opener at all. But it didn’t feel as if he didn’t use his other luxury bottle opener because the one that he used with his category one bottle opener on this occasion was at the same level as the luxury bottle opener he didn’t use … if that makes sense. 😐 He’s goijng to put his fourth bottle opener, the crappy one, in the bin when he finds it. It’s simply not worth listing on ebay now after he’s rubbished it publicly. 🙁
Blackley & Brownlie(Quote)
Aussie – You’re right about the bottle openers, especially if you’re planning lots of barbies. They easily go missing, and before you know it, your category one bottle opener has walked. Your luxury ones end up on someone’s key ring, or in someone’s pocket if your not careful, particularly the curious hooded ones, which appeal to the ladies.
“Has he finshed his social experiment on whether this blog will survive without his comical & insightful input?” Classic 😆 😆 😆 He really believes the place dies a death when he’s not on. He’ll be tormenting someone other poor blogger on another site until they’re pulling their hair out, whilst dipping in here to see how much he’s being missed. I bet he’s been dying to post, but has had to stop himself. 😆 Who’s Dave partnered up with anyway?
Blackley & Brownlie(Quote)
B&B, he will be lurking about, desperate to contribute but it will be too soon, the blog hasn’t suffered. 🙂 🙂 it will be killing him 🙂 🙂 🙂
Aussie Magpie Fan(Quote)
The blog will be moribund when he rides in, like the lone ranger, to breathe life into it and save it at the last minute! Tonto will be delighted to see him. Or will it be Casey Jones at the head of the cannon ball reality express? You’ll know when you hear the tootin of the whistle Woooooo Hooooo Wooooo Hooooo:lol: 😆 😆
Blackley & Brownlie(Quote)
*Head = throttle
Blackley & Brownlie(Quote)
who sent for all this bloody snow 4/5in out here now,l blame richie
icedog(Quote)
On a completely different subject, but I was just reading on the internet that Suarez may be charged with stamping on a Zenith defender twice during the midweek defeat. So I thought I’d search for it on you tube, and although I couldn’t find nowt I stumbled upon this instead. FFS take a look at 55 seconds. I have to say that for me there have been some bad ones in the EPL, but Suarez is by far the worst I have seen for years. I don’t give a cack about his ability to be honest, the bloke is just way out of order. DELIBERATELY going out of your way to maim fellow players is shocking, it’s not the first time he has done it either.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hManetawDc
Munich Mag(Quote)
MM the guy is a arose,and a racist get him out of the PL he’s the same every game
icedog(Quote)
****
icedog(Quote)
MM – Have a look at post No 1 here
http://boards.footymad.net/forum.php?tno=386&fid=185&sty=2&act=1&mid=2113185230&page=1
toonsy(Quote)
MM; I saw the game and the Zenit player was lying face down on the pitch when Suarez ran over him to get to the ball.
Whilst most players would have hurdled the prone figure , Suarez , very blatently , planted his boot firmly on the middle of the guys’ back.
Disgraceful !!
sidekick(Quote)
Munich, A bit like Metalists nos 3, 6 and the guy who stamped on Krull, I was boiling with he referee from the first leg but the one on Thursday was even worse, how the hell he could book Krul and the ignore the antics of their players is beyond me, the only positive was that he didnt give them a homer penalty or red card Hiadara which he looked on course to do.
Robert(Quote)
Some of those tackles from Suarez are absolutely HORRENDOUS. I’m sure that one of these days someone will actually charge him with gbh, just because he is on a football field doesn’t mean he can get away with this kind of stuff.
I used to play Sunday morning football when I used to live in the toon. Believe me, there was some horrendous stuff going on, my first game I’ll never forget as a spindly 17 year old when wor centre half lumped the opposing centre forward with an upper cut that lifted the the bloke half a meter off the deck, broke his cheek bone and caused his eye socket to drop an inch. Thank flock he was on wor team 😯 cause I was centre floorboard at the time. Ah, happy days….beer fuelled Sunday morning footy. Wonder what Suarez is on ?
Munich Mag(Quote)
Robert, I noticed that too mate, and the crouton of a referee booked Krul for time wasting, even though the game had been restarted 🙁
Actually there was some pretty ugly stuff going on on Thursday, Collo also dished his fair share out to be honest, sliding studs down the back of the strikers legs etc. Still when the South Americans start roughing it amongst themselves then so be it.
I was also afraid that the ref was itching to red card one of the toon players. Good move by Pardew to bring off Cisse when he did, cos he was a red card waiting to happen. The legendary Shola Ameobi remained unruffled however, he’s ground his teeth queing for the no 33 bus on Elswick Road, so Thursday against those big bad centre halves was a doddle in comparison 🙂
Munich Mag(Quote)