|
|
|
|
 Sunday 30th October 2005, Barclays Premiership, The Hawthorns, Kick-Off 4:00pm
Albion: Kuszczak, Scimeca, Moore, C Davies, Clement, Greening (Horsfield 78), Watson, Inamoto, Carter, Earnshaw, Kanu (Ellington 75). Subs not used: Hoult (gk), Gaardsoe, Chaplow Newcastle United: Given, Ramage, Boumsong (Bramble 79), Taylor, Babayaro, N'Zogbia (Dyer 71), Emre, Parker, Solano, Ameobi (Shearer 66), Owen. Subs not used: Harper (gk), Faye
Referee: Howard Webb (South Yorkshire)
Assistant Referees: Dave Babski (Lincolnshire),
Mike Tingey (Buckinghamshire) Half-Time: Albion 0-0 Newcastle United Attendance: 26,216 Conditions: Cool and breezy
MATCH REPORT
BY: Dale
Brookes
WEST BROM TEAM NEWS:
Manager Bryan Robson made
three changes to the side that won 3-2 in the Carling Cup at Fulham in
midweek. Paul Robinson (suspended), Ronnie Wallwork (rested) and Diomansy
Kamara (paternity leave) were all missing. Chris Kirkland
and Martin Albrechtsen were also ruled out due to injury. Curtis Davies returned after
being cup tied and both Jonathan Greening and Steve Watson earned recalls.
NEWCASTLE UNITED TEAM NEWS:
Boss Graeme Souness made
two changes to the side that beat Sunderland 3-2 seven days ago. Stephen
Carr missed out altogether and Alan Shearer dropped to the bench. Michael
Owen and Celestine Babayaro returned to replace them.
’SHEAR’ CLASS ADDS TO OWEN
DOUBLE AS CORRECT TOON IS PLAYED AT THE HAWTHORNS!!!
A Michael Owen double helped
Newcastle United chalk up their second successive Premiership victory as
they brushed aside an injury hit
West Brom at the Hawthorns. Substitute Alan Shearer also got in on the
act with a third ten minutes from time but it could all have been different
had the Baggies taken their chances when the score was only 1-0. Robert
Earnshaw forced Shay Given into two top class saves but once again failing
to put away chances cost
Albion as they were made to pay for slack defending at the other
end for all three goals.
Newcastle began the
brightest and could have taken an early lead had it not been for a last
ditch tackle from Darren Moore to deny Shola Ameobi a strike on goal.
Moments later and Moore was at it again this time blocking England striker
Michael Owen’s effort from eight yards out after Scott Parker had done well
to turn the ball back from the by-line.
Emre found a bit of space
for a 20 yard shot which was comfortably saved by Albion keeper Kuszczak who
was making his first Premiership start of the season. Although Newcastle
were creating the half chances it was the Baggies that bossed possession as
successive corners were forced but to no avail. Owen was then inches away
from putting the visitors in front when he ran onto a perfect through ball
by Solano but the former Real Madrid striker was kept out by a magnificent
block from Kuszczak before he hooked the ball back into the danger area to
which no Magpie player was there to prod home, the ball was eventually
cleared to safety.
Within seconds of the
restart Newcastle broke the deadlock through that man Michael Owen. Ameobi
slipped in N’Zogbia down the left flank who clipped in an inch perfect cross
for Owen to lash home with his right foot past the stranded Kuszczak. The
goal saw the Baggies finally wake up as Rob Earnshaw used his trickery
inside the box before chipping a right footed shot straight into the arms of
Shay Given when he should have done better.
Michael Owen was still
causing problems for the Albion defence though as his scintillating pace
left him one on one with Kuszczak following a Solano through pass but the
Polish keeper came rushing out of his goal to block the England’s striker’s
effort with his chest before the danger was eventually cleared to safety.
Given then had to be on his toes to superbly tip away an Earnshaw right
footed curler as the Welshman continued to look for his first Premiership
goal of the season.
But West Brom’s failure to
find a way past Shay Given saw them pay the price as Owen collected his
second in the 77th minute when he slotted past Kuszczak with ease from six
yards after a superb run and cross from Kieron Dyer had created the chance.
Three minutes later and substitute Alan Shearer made sure that all three
points would be heading back to the North East as he beat
Moore to poke home from close range following a delightful
low cross from Peter Ramage. MAN
OF THE MATCH: Curtis Davies
PLAYER RATINGS OUT OF TEN
Kuszczak
6 - Could not fault him for any of the goals, put in an average
performance.
REF WATCH
FAN WATCH MY REVIEW Well
there goes another heavy defeat but to be fair I have to say 3-0 flattered
Newcastle very much. I thought we were well and truly in the game at 1-0
down and had Given not pulled off a couple of really good saves we would
have definitely been back in it and who knows could have won it. But it’s
back to that old cliché again where if you don’t take your chances you get
punished and we sincerely did yet again! The defence though is the big worry
as we have now conceded 21 goals in just 11 games and as much I hate to say
it, that is without doubt relegation form. It certainly needs to be improved
on but what do we do? We can’t exactly drop our central defenders as Clement
and Davies are the best we have In my view and although Clement played left
back yesterday he still played a part in the defence, all we can do is start
taking pressure off the defenders by scoring GOALS! Ellington has now got to
be given his chance because Earnshaw, Kanu, Horsfield, Campbell and Kamara
only have five league goals between them in eleven games, that is absolutely
shocking for a Premiership strike force, the really worrying thing is Geoff
Horsfield has scored four of those goals. I rest my case.
wba.co.uk
Darren Moore: "When you go out there in the Premiership you are playing against world class or international class players and it was no different today. We just felt it was individual mistakes that cost us and I gifted Michael the first goal even though it was a good finish. The gaffer is very disappointed because individual mistakes have cost us again. As a defender, I have to shoulder some of the responsibility. I'm absolutely gutted and disgusted to make a mistake like that. But you still have to say: 'Did we really deserve a 3-0 defeat?' However, we have to hold our hands up. It's nothing to do with the gaffer. The gaffer can work with us day in and day out in training but once we cross that white line it's up to the players. The game is about 90 minutes, plus stoppage time, so you have to be mentally strong and concentrate 100 per cent of the time." "We wanted back-to-back wins and we failed. We feel we've lost enough games already and we want to put it right. It was an opportunity to put it right today and we didn't, so it hurts. All we can do is look to the West Ham game now." Neil Clement: "It was very disappointing. We played quite well in the first half and it was pretty well balanced. But to concede three goals the way we did is not good and the manager is not happy with the boys' performances in the second half - neither are the boys. We have to shoulder responsibility for that performance. It's not the gaffer's fault.” "We got punished by some good finishing. Michael Owen was pretty quiet throughout the game but then came up with two great finishes, which is why he cost £16million. But even at 1-0, we had some chances. Ina and Earnie were unlucky not to score and there is a fine line between success and failure. Strikers live on confidence. Earnie looked sharp in midweek and caused a few problems today. I'm sure it will come for him. We just have to keep going and stick together." "What's becoming difficult for us is that we're concentrating so much on not making mistakes that you stop doing things naturally and then get caught. We haven't come from behind too many times since we've been in the Premiership. We pushed for the equaliser and had a few chances but when they caught us again it became very difficult. We thought it was there for the taking today because we had a good result at Fulham in midweek and a good home win against Arsenal last time here, but it wasn't to be." Source: wba.co.uk
Graeme Souness: "It was a battle early on, as you would expect here, then after we scored we had a dodgy seven or eight minutes where Shay has made a great save. Had they scored at that time it may have been an entirely different game, but they didn't and we went on and won handsomely.” "The longer the game went on, we got stronger and stronger. As I've said all the long, when we get all of our big players available we'll be a match for anyone. What we have been doing is matching people in the fight. If we can do that for the first hour or the first 70 minutes, then we will step it up with our quality.” “It was one of those games where we didn't want half time to come because for the last 15 minutes of the first period we were really getting at them. But we scored right after the break. Michael is a tremendous predator, and scored two great goals." "The old man was just proving a point by scoring, saying he should have been on from the start. But Alan is 35, he's started every game for us this season. We have to try and look after him. He had a real bashing against Sunderland then against Grimsby in midweek. He wasn't happy when I said he wasn't going to start, but that's what I want from players. No doubt on the way home he will remind me that he should have started, but we have to look after him. He is our target man, he's the best one we have got, and he showed that when he came on.” "The script has gone really well. We've won the game, Michael's got a couple of goals. Alan has scored, and Kieron Dyer has got a run out after his injury problems. It's been a good day."
Source:
nufc.co.uk |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
