Last Time City Came Calling!
NEWCASTLE: Given, Carr, Moore (Onyewu 73), Taylor, Babayaro, Solano (Milner 76), Butt, Parker, Duff, Dyer (Sibierski 77), Martins.
Subs Not Used: Harper, Emre.
MAN CITY: Isaksson, Onuoha (Trabelsi 85), Dunne, Distin, Ball, Jihai, Barton, Hamann (Samaras 46), Johnson, Vassell, Mpenza.
Subs Not Used: Weaver, Corradi, Miller.
Att: 52,004
Newcastle's slim hopes of European qualification were ended as Manchester City snatched an invaluable victory at St James' Park.
Emile Mpenza, who scored his first goal for the club at Middlesbrough a fortnight ago, struck 10 minutes from time to claim a second win in as many games and further ease the pressure on manager Stuart Pearce.The toothless Magpies were booed from the pitch by a crowd of 52,004 after a disjointed and uninspired display, although defender Steven Taylor might have snatched a point at the death with a header which hit the crossbar.
That would have been harsh on City, who were also denied by the woodwork before the break, after a performance characterised by excellent organisation and total commitment.
By contrast, Newcastle were wasteful in possession, short on ideas and inept in front of goal to leave a season which went flat with their European exit in Holland dwindling into mediocrity.
The debate on Tyneside this week has been whether or not record signing Michael Owen will be able to play alongside £10million man Obafemi Martins in attack next season.
If they are provided with the kind of service the Nigerian and strike partner Kieron Dyer were given in this game, the answer is a resounding no.
The pair were quite simply never in the game, with Sylvain Distin and Richard Dunne dominant to the extent that Dyer spent much of the game camped on the halfway line desperately trying to get himself involved.
City, who ended a run of five successive Premiership defeats with a 2-0 win at Boro, arrived at St James' Park determined not to leave empty-handed.
Striker Darius Vassell was asked to play wide on the left of a five-man midfield as Mpenza took on the home defence alone.
However, with Newcastle failing to deal with free man Joey Barton as he repeatedly broke from central midfield, it was they who looked the more likely to break the deadlock.
Indeed, they came closest to the opening goal before the break when Mpenza made the most of hesitancy in the home defence to blast a left-foot shot against the crossbar from 25 yards with Shay Given beaten.
Newcastle skipper Scott Parker had earlier seen a 17th-minute strike ruled out for offside and Nolberto Solano had whistled a long-range effort just wide.
But with their side struggling to make any headway at all in a congested midfield as City stifled virtually every move at its conception, and Damien Duff seeing as little of the ball wide on the left as his frontmen, it was a largely turgid affair.
At the end of a week which saw England fans turn on their side in Barcelona, there were boos from the packed stands at St James' when the half-time whistle sounded with Glenn Roeder's men in dire need of inspiration.
Pearce made a change at the break when he replaced holding midfielder Dietmar Hamann with striker Georgios Samaras, although he kept the same system with the new arrival lining up wide on the right as Sun Jihai moved inside.
Samaras endured a tough opening as Duff prospered down the left, sending in a 48th-minute cross which was just too strong for Martins and Solano and then providing Parker with a chance which he thumped just over the bar.
Dunne headed well over from a 57th-minute Barton corner as City temporarily relieved the pressure, but defensive partner Distin had to make a vital block two minutes later after Duff found Solano at the far post.
There was no faulting Newcastle's endeavour as they sought the breakthrough but there was a distinct lack of quality when they got into the final third with keeper Andreas Isaksson untroubled.
Solano was not enjoying one of his better days and there were calls from the stand for James Milner's introduction as he warmed up on the sidelines.
Given saved from Vassell on 71 minutes but there were boos from the home supporters when Roeder made his first change and replaced Moore with fellow central defender Oguchi Onyewu.
Milner and Antoine Sibierski soon followed as replacements for Dyer and Solano, but the mood was becoming uglier by the minute.
There was worse to come, however, when Michael Johnson picked out Mpenza in acres of space and he fired gleefully past Given to claim all three points.
Taylor rattled the crossbar with a minute remaining and Stephen Carr and Onyewu both went close to an equaliser, but it was simply not Newcastle's day.
2005/6 NEWCASTLE 1 MAN CITY 0
NEWCASTLE: Given, Carr, Boumsong, Bramble, Babayaro, Bowyer (Faye 70), Clark, Parker, N'Zogbia, Shearer (Ameobi 76), Owen.
Subs Not Used: Elliott, Harper, Moore.
MAN CITY: James, Onuoha, Distin, Dunne, Thatcher, Jihai, Barton, Reyna, Musampa (Ireland 60), Sibierski (Croft 76), Vassell.
Subs Not Used: Sommeil, De Vlieger, Jordan.
Att: 52,280
Michael Owen's second Newcastle goal handed his side a first Barclays Premiership victory at St James' Park in eight attempts as Manchester City lost for the third time in a week.
The England striker slotted past international team-mate David James on 18 minutes to complete a good week for the Magpies and manager Graeme Souness.
Owen might have collected a hat-trick on a day when his side, despite still missing Kieron Dyer, Emre, Nolberto Solano and Albert Luque, turned in a much-improved display until nerves started to take effect late in the game with a disappointing City mounting a fightback.
But a makeshift midfield and a much-criticised defence, in which the returning Titus Bramble was excellent, did their jobs to the letter to ensure that the points stayed on Tyneside.
The corresponding fixture last season finished 4-3 to the home side, but there is little doubt that Souness will have been much happier this time around as his side kept a clean sheet despite a torrid conclusion to the game and created plenty of chances of their own.
For once, the players left the pitch on the final whistle to cheers from the bulk of a crowd of 52,280 with three points banked for the first time since Liverpool left the North-East empty-handed on March 5.
Owen guaranteed the Newcastle fans goals on the day he arrived on Tyneside and with the exception of his debut against Fulham, he has been as good as his word.
However, he walked off the pitch at half-time kicking himself that he had only found the back of the net once after being presented with a series of glorious chances.
The one he did take, he did so with his customary aplomb, running on to Lee Bowyer's through-ball and stabbing a shot past James before Richard Dunne could get to him to send the home crowd into raptures.
When he set off in pursuit of Alan Shearer's defence-splitting pass 22 minutes later, few inside St James' Park expected anything other than to see the net bulge once again.
When it did not, courtesy of James' block, the disbelief inside the stadium was mirrored in the expression on the England striker's face, although it did not disturb him for too long.
A minute before the break he took aim from an improbable angle and smashed a shot across the face of goal with the keeper beaten to serve a further reminder of his eye for goal.
Owen's display was the main feature of an improved collective performance by Newcastle who, buoyed by last weekend's 3-0 victory at Blackburn, looked something like their former selves.
With Scott Parker back from suspension to provide the cover for the back four and teenager Charles N'Zogbia giving Nedum Onouha a stern examination down the left, they had a shape and a pace to their play which they have lacked at times this season.
That said, they might have been behind with just seven minutes gone when Antoine Sibierski escaped his marker with little difficulty to meet a Joey Barton free-kick on the edge of the six-yard box and it took a superb reaction save from Shay Given to keep the ball out.
But City rarely threatened before the break and were at full stretch at the back too often for Stuart Pearce's liking.
The second half began in decidedly scrappy fashion with Newcastle struggling for their rhythm and City working hard, but to little real effect.
Given had to clear hurriedly under pressure from Darius Vassell after Jean-Alain Boumsong's wayward back-pass had left him with work to do, but the Magpies stepped up a gear and might have increased their lead twice within minutes.
Owen was almost gifted a free shot at goal when Richard Dunne and James got in a tangle on the edge of their own penalty area, but the keeper redeemed himself for his part in the confusion by coming from his line seconds later to collect Lee Bowyer's low cross with Owen ready to pounce at the far post.
In the meantime, Dunne had headed a Barton corner over to remind the home side that the points were far from secure, and Pearce attempted to add fresh impetus on the hour when he replaced midfielder Kiki Musampa with Stephen Ireland.
It took a well-timed challenge by Bramble to prevent the newcomer's 68th-minute cross from reaching Barton in front of goal, and with the visitors enjoying their best period in the game, Souness decided to try to shore things up by withdrawing Bowyer and sending on the more defensively-minded Amdy Faye in his place.
City hammered away as the clock ran down and Dunne flashed another header across the face of goal six minutes from time.
But with finger-nails being chewed all around, substitute Shola Ameobi should have cemented the win with the final kick of the game after being set up by Owen, but he dragged his left foot effort across James and wide.