Let's Get Back To The Premiership!

Last updated : 16 October 2008 By Footy Mad - Editor

Beleaguered Newcastle manager Sam Allardyce was plunged deeper into trouble as Manchester City ended their wait for a Premier League win on the road at the worst possible moment for the former Bolton boss.

Even the returning Michael Owen could not turn the tide as he passed up a glorious opportunity to equalise within 35 seconds of his introduction as a half-time substitute.

By contrast, Sven-Goran Eriksson's side produced two top-quality finishes from Elano and substitute Gelson Fernandes to kill off a game which gave them their first win in the league away from home since the opening day of the season.

That the Magpies should have emerged with something to show for their efforts will be little consolation to fans who have seen the season go from bad to worse, and despite chairman Chris Mort's assertion that owner Mike Ashley is not actively looking for a new manager, Allardyce's future looks bleak if the current run continues.

Newcastle face a tricky trip to Coca-Cola Championship Stoke in the FA Cup third round on Sunday, and a poor result there will heap the pressure on Allardyce, who will lose four men to the African Nations Cup during the next few days.

To make matters yet worse there were boos from the bulk of a crowd of 50,956 on the final whistle.

Allardyce has not known whether to laugh or cry for much of him time at St James' Park to date, and as he headed for the dressing room at half-time, rarely had those conflicting emotions hit so hard.

City arrived on Tyneside with Darius Vassell operating as a lone striker and content to try to hit the Magpies on the break as they looked for their first league win away from Eastlands since the opening day of the season.

The home side, having been robbed of a point at Chelsea by a controversial offside decision on Saturday, responded with an enterprising display and had they have taken any of the hatful of chances they created before the break, they might have given an appreciative home crowd something tangible to cheer.

Visiting keeper Joe Hart knew little about the fifth-minute Habib Beye header which flew his way, and only his positioning kept the Senegal international's close-range effort out.

Thereafter, the Magpies peppered his goal with Abdoulaye Faye testing him twice from distance and Obafemi Martins blasting fierce effort his way.

However, the Nigerian was guilty of not making the most of a series of openings as the visitors found themselves pinned back, and he was not alone with Charles N'Zogbia scuffing another effort at Hart and then sending a low cross too far ahead of the unmarked Mark Viduka.

Eriksson's side had started to show flashes of their ability to hit teams on the counter, and it took a good save from Shay Given to deny Martin Petrov when he fired in an angled drive from the left on 31 minutes.

However, having earlier survived a potentially catastrophic back-pass by Claudio Cacapa which Stephen Ireland squandered, they were hit seven minutes before the break.

There was much to admire about Vassell's lay-off to Elano and the aplomb with which the Brazilian curled the ball beyond Given and into the bottom corner, but Allardyce could only shake his head and appeal to the heavens as another game started to slip away.

He decided to replace Martins with Owen at the break, and the change almost had the desired effect with less than a minute gone.

N'Zogbia picked out the £17million man's run and he was on the ball in a flash, only to see Hart block his right-foot shot with his leg.

Newcastle were starting to re-establish their momentum, although were struggling to open the visitors up, with N'Zogbia's speculative 35-yard effort symptomatic of their problems.

As the home side's desperation grew, central defender Cacapa twice found himself in advanced positions down the left, but was unable to make the most of either opportunity.

However, Micah Richards had to make a vital block to deny Viduka a near-post tap-in from N'Zogbia's 63rd-minute cross.

Allardyce, who had earlier replaced the tiring Duff with Jose Enrique, sent on Emre for Faye with 17 minutes remaining, but the game was effectively over before they had broken sweat.

City replacements Kelvin Etuhu and and Gelson combined for the latter to fire past Given and shatter Allardyce's hopes of a fightback as another bad night at St James' ended to a chorus of disapproval.