Pompey Come Calling!
NEWCASTLE UTD: Given, Solano, Taylor, Bramble, Ramage, Milner (Sibierski 45), Parker (Butt 24), Emre, N'Zogbia (Luque 90), Dyer, Martins.
Subs Not Used: Srnicek, Huntington.
PORTSMOUTH: James, Pamarot, Primus, Campbell, Stefanovic (Taylor 46), Thompson, Davis, Pedro Mendes (Kranjcar 71), O'Neil, Kanu, Mwaruwari (Douala 59).
Subs Not Used: Ashdown, O'Brien.
Att: 48,743
Antoine Sibierski came off the bench to score his first Premiership goal for Newcastle, and the ex-Manchester City midfielder is starting become something of a cult hero amongst the Geordies.
The Frenchman is a handful for opposing defenders, and once again he struck from close to steal the show, just as he has been doing in European games this campaign.
It eases the pressure off Glenn Roeder, not so much because they picked up three precious points, but because United bossed the match from start to finish. Something they have rarely done so far in the Premiership this season.
I don't know what it is with this club, but we always seem to be blighted by injuries. OK, every team suffers, but surely none as much as Newcastle. There have been times this season when Roeder has only not had a striker to pick from, and against Portsmouth he only had THREE defenders, and had to play winger Nobby Solano at right-back.
But rather than hamper the team, at last the players seem to accept the fact, and the last two games have been remarkable. There has been a "battle against all odds" mentality that has not been there since Sir Bobby's hay-day, and was certainly behind \the first league win at home since August 19.
Portsmouth's lofty standing in the table probably flatters them. Every season we see the unlikely high-flyers, like Wigan last year, Charlton, Bolton and Middlesbrough in previous years. Clubs who gate-crash the Premiership elite party until Christmas, then get sussed out and struggle from the New Year to May. Pompey, like so many others, will be glad to get to the 40pt safety mark (although it didn't save the Mackems in 1997 ... not that we laughed).
United showed enough grit before the break to suggest they are more than capable of addressing their parlous situation, and were quite outstanding in the second half when Pompey couldn't get near them.
Skipper Scott Parker and winger James Milner both limped off with injury problems which will make them doubts for the UEFA Cup trip to Eintracht Frankfurt on Thursday evening. But Newcastle never buckled.
Newcastle had the ball in the net on 17 minutes, Obafemi Martins running on to the once again impressive Dyer's through-ball to chip a neat shot over the advancing James. But his celebrations were cut short by an offside flag.
Emre twice went close from distance in the dying minutes of the first half, but David James' only two saves of note came from his own men, David Thompson connecting rather too well with a headed back-pass and Linvoy Primus blasting a clearance against Dejan Stefanovic which almost crept under the bar.
James, looking like a cartoon character from the 1930s with the most bizarre hairstyle, had a busy day.
Charles N'Zogbia and Dyer combined to good effect on the hour to carry the ball from deep inside their own half before the England international found Sibierski, but his shot from a right angle has turned away by James.
Dyer needed treatment after crashing into the advertising hoardings on 65 minutes in a successful attempt to win a corner, and the visitors were fortunate to survive a goalmouth scramble when the ball was played in.
But the deadlock was finally broken four minutes later when Peter Ramage, Martins and N'Zogbia combined at pace down the left for the Frenchman to cross for compatriot Sibierski to apply the finishing touch.
The Magpies threatened to run riot at the minutes ticked away, James denying Dyer twice as well as Sibierski and Emre, but with Pompey risking everything in the search for an equaliser, they had to endure a tense conclusion, including seven and a half minutes of stoppage time, before referee Mark Halsey finally ended their agony.
2006/7 - CARLING CUP - NEWCASTLE UTD 3 PORTSMOUTH 0
NEWCASTLE: Harper, Taylor (Ramage 90), Moore, Bramble, Babayaro, Solano, Butt (Dyer 60), N'Zogbia, Milner, Rossi, Martins (Duff 46).
Subs Not Used: Srnicek, Luque.
PORTSMOUTH: James, Pamarot, O'Brien, Primus, Taylor, Thompson (Koroman 46), Davis (Hughes 73), Fernandes, Kranjcar (Douala 63), Cole, LuaLua.
Subs Not Used: Kiely, Kanu.
The League Cup, or Carling Cup as it is called these days, has never really brought out the crowds at St James' Park since it was started back in 1960. So I wouldn't read too much into the attendance of only 25,028 hardy souls who braved the weather to watch the Toon.
Feelings were obviously frayed after the defeat to the Smoggies, but in this game you are only remembered for the last match, and I'm sure this thrashing of Pompey will keep the wolves at bay. Well ... until Saturday night at least.
Giuseppe Rossi was itching for a start, and having scored here to open the scoring, I'm sure Glenn Roeder will be peppered with the same question over and over again - "why has it taken so long to put him in the team?" The on-loan striker is thought to be a Manchester United starlet of the future, and Sir Alex Ferguson has been baffled why he had been limited to only 48 minutes sunstitute appearances. But he struck three minutes after half-time to set the Magpies on the road to the fourth round.
Nobby Solano, voted man of the match by the sponsors, made sure of the win five minutes later with a thumping header from substitute Damien Duff's cross, before finishing things off with his second of the night in injury time.
The weather was dreadful and the pitch was treacherous, and I'm sure I wasn't the only one expecting the worst at half-time. If the referee had felt the conditions were worse for the second half I'm sure he would have called a halt. But early in the match when Steve Harper dived to get the ball ... and slid a full ten yards across his penalty area ... I felt we wouldn't see the 90 minutes.
Roeder made five changes to the side which went down at Middlesbrough on Sunday - out went skipper Scott Parker, Stephen Carr, Peter Ramage, Damien Duff and the injured Antoine Sibierski as Solano, Rossi, Titus Bramble, Celestine Babayaro, Charles N'Zogbia and Rossi were drafted in.
Bramble had a good game, but just when we were praising him, he meant to send a pass out wide to the left and hit Babayaro on the back when the full-back was little more than four yards next to him. That brought the usual groans from the fans "not again!"
The visitors were by far the more impressive in the early stages and it took United about twenty minutes to offer anything like an attack.
But the home side started the half as they finished the first - on the front foot - and took the lead within three minutes of the restart after Milner surged into the box and Rossi latched onto the loose ball and calmly slotted home his first goal for the club.
The lead was doubled five minutes later when Duff sent in a deep cross from the left and Solano arrived unmarked at the far post to power a header past James.
The introduction of Kieron Dyer as a 60th minute replacement for Butt was greeted warmly by the home fans and he might have marked his return with a goal within three minutes as he ended a mazy run with a shot across the face of goal.
Pompey thought they had dragged themselves back into it with seven minutes remaining when LuaLua stabbed the ball home from close range after the home side failed to deal with a near post corner, but an off-side flag ended his celebrations.
And Solano completed the scoring in the last minute of normal time when he capitalised on Milner's run to slot home a third from close range.
A welcome result for Roeder, and the fans trooped away soaked to the skin ... but very happy.
2005/6 - NEWCASTLE UTD 2 PORTSMOUTH 0
NEWCASTLE: Given, Ramage, Boumsong, Bramble, Babayaro, Solano (Dyer 74), Parker (Clark 86), Emre (Bowyer 74), N'Zogbia, Shearer, Ameobi.
Subs Not Used: Harper, Elliott.
PORTSMOUTH: Kiely, Griffin (Pamarot 46), Primus, O'Brien, Taylor, Routledge (Todorov 46), Davis (Diao 76), Pedro Mendes, O'Neil, D'Alessandro, Mwaruwari.
Subs Not Used: Ashdown, Karadas.
Att: 51,627
Newcastle skipper Alan Shearer once again wrote his own fairytale script as he claimed his club record 201st goal just when they needed it most.
Shearer's 64th-minute strike doubled the advantage given to the Magpies by Charles N'Zogbia's first-half opener to get Glenn Roeder's caretaker reign off to the perfect start just three days after Graeme Souness' departure.
It was the Magpies' first Barclays Premiership win in seven attempts and eased their relegation fears, although there were several reasons to be cheerful for the black and white faithful.
Shearer's milestone goal as he eclipsed Jackie Milburn's record was always going to spark wild celebrations, but Newcastle actually played rather well, apart from a brief spell just after half-time when they reverted to their bad old ways.
They were also able to welcome back midfielder Kieron Dyer as a substitute for the first time since October 30, a fact which will not have gone unnoticed by Souness.
But ultimately, it was the three points which mattered most as Pompey slipped deeper into the mire and the Magpies eased themselves away from the scrap at the bottom.
Souness' exit on Thursday once again left the Magpies in limbo and as the search for his replacement got underway, there was only one thing that mattered.
A return of just one point from the last 18 on offer, culminating in an abject display in the 3-0 defeat at Manchester City in midweek ultimately accounted for the Scot as the prospect of a relegation fight became ever more likely.
Injuries have been a major factor so far this season, but more worryingly, so too has under-achievement, and if it was Souness who paid the price for failure, his players knew they had to take their share of the blame.
But from the moment they walked on to the pitch, there was something different about them, and when skipper Shearer called them into a huddle seconds before kick-off, the crowd took up the theme.
Quite simply, Newcastle have lacked organisation and enterprise as things have gone from bad to worse, but both were in evidence, against admittedly limited opposition, and it made a change to hear them cheered from the pitch at the break when it has been to boos that they have left so often in the past.
The reason was not difficult to see: Scott Parker's tigerish approach in central midfield set the tone, Emre's delicious touch on the ball was pleasing on the eye and the endeavour of Nolberto Solano and N'Zogbia on the flanks was hugely influential.
Had it not been for the brilliance of Portsmouth keeper Dean Kiely, the game might have been over long before half-time, and it is not often that could be said of a Newcastle display this season.
Kiely's brilliant double stop from the lively Shola Ameobi and Shearer on 29 minutes might have suggested that, once again, it was not going to be the Magpies' day, and the keeper was swiftly off his line 10 minutes later to deny Shearer once again.
However, even though he managed to keep the 35-year-old out for a third time four minutes before the break, his luck was finally to desert him.
Shearer's downward header from a Solano cross looked destined for the back of the net until the keeper blocked with his legs, but N'Zogbia was on hand to slot home the rebound to claim the advantage his side's first-half display deserved.
Harry Redknapp's response at the break was to replace Andy Griffin and the ineffectual Wayne Routledge with Noe Pamarot and Svetoslav Todorov, and although his side rallied briefly, as soon as Emre started to become the central figure once again, the tide was very much in the opposite direction.
But with the scoreline at just 1-0, the visitors were not dead and buried, and the Magpies were served with a warning on 55 minutes when Sean Davis played Matthew Taylor into space down the left and his cross was just too strong for first Benjani Mwaruwari and then Todorov in the middle.
Titus Bramble suffered one of his legendary lapses of concentration four minutes later to allow Gary O'Neil to reach a through-ball ahead of Shay Given, although the defender at least recovered in time to clear the cross when it came in.
However, Shearer's big moment arrived with 64 minutes gone to ease the growing anxiety and spark a major celebration.
Ameobi held the ball up on the edge of the box before back-heeling it into his captain's path, and the finish at the Gallowgate End where he equalled Milburn's record last month was unerring as it has been for the last 18 years or so.
Solano curled a 70th-minute free-kick just wide and Ameobi had appeals for a penalty turned down 17 minutes from time as Newcastle threatened to cut loose, and it was then that Roeder decided to introduce Lee Bowyer and Dyer.
Ameobi went close with an 86th-minute shot and Dyer flashed the ball across the six-yard box in the final minute of normal time, but it was fitting that it was Shearer's contribution which remained the most significant in the final stages.
2004/5 - NEWCASTLE UTD 1 PORTSMOUTH 1
NEWCASTLE: Given, Taylor, Hughes, Bramble, Bernard, Jenas, Dyer, Bowyer (Ambrose 71), Milner (Robert 57), Bellamy, Ameobi.
Subs Not Used: Elliott, Andrew O'Brien, Harper.
PORTSMOUTH: Ashdown, Griffin, Stefanovic, De Zeeuw, Primus, Stone, Faye, O'Neil, Berger, LuaLua (Cisse 87), Fuller (Taylor 84).
Subs Not Used: Hislop, Berkovic, Hughes.
Att: 51,480
Newcastle's miserable home form took a turn for the worse as they were held to a draw by managerless Portsmouth.
The Magpies exploded out of the blocks, taking the lead through Lee Bowyer's third-minute piledriver but they failed to build on their advantage and were pegged back 16 minutes before the break when Steve Stone's shot deflected off Jermaine Jenas' chest and past the wrong-footed Shay Given.
Even without star strikers Alan Shearer and Patrick Kluivert, who both missed out through injury, Graeme Souness' men should have had too much for a limited Pompey outfit.
However, despite dominating possession throughout, they failed to take their chances and extended their run without a home win in the Barclays Premiership to four games.
It could have been worse too, with Gary O'Neil heading just wide eight minutes from time when he should have done better, but the problems are mounting for Souness.
It all seemed to be going to plan when, with less than three minutes gone, full-back Steven Taylor surged forward and fed Bowyer, who took the ball in his stride before driving a venomous shot past Jamie Ashdown and into his top-left corner.
The Magpies pushed forward but created very few worthy openings.
James Milner, preferred on the left to Laurent Robert, saw little of the ball and with Kieron Dyer struggling to pick out black and white shirts, their dominance was reaping little reward.
Dyer was guilty of a bad miss after Craig Bellamy robbed former team-mate Andy Griffin on the halfway line and set off towards goal, the midfielder firing over the top from close range.
Ashdown almost gifted the Magpies a second goal when he slipped as he prepared to clear a Griffin back-pass and Jenas was only inches away from getting a touch to Bowyer's 28th-minute free-kick at the far post.
The home side paid the price for their failure to kill off Pompey, and 16 minutes before the break the south-coast side were level.
Bowyer did well to clear Dejan Stefanovic's header off the line, but when O'Neil recycled the ball to set up Stone, he fired in a shot which hit Jenas' chest and wrong-footed Given to drag the visitors back into the contest.
Milner volleyed into the side-netting on 36 minutes as the Magpies regained their impetus, but they left the field at half-time frustrated.
Robert emerged from the tunnel to warm up at length on the touchline, but not much had changed as Pompey defended for their lives and Newcastle lacked the craft to open them up.
Bowyer was flying into tackles as the game became increasingly physical, but the repeated interruptions simply served to deny the home side any momentum.
Shola Ameobi, in for the injured Kluivert, fleetingly got a sight of goal on 56 minutes after Bowyer had wrestled back possession and fed him, but Arjan de Zeeuw's timing was perfect to dispossess him.
Robert's arrival seconds later as a replacement for Milner was greeted warmly by the home fans, and it did not take him long to make his mark, firing in a swerving left-foot shot from distance which Ashdown had to dive full-length to turn away.
Both sides had claims for penalties turned down by referee Mike Riley - Pompey's for a block on Lomana LuaLua by Aaron Hughes and the Magpies for a Stefanovic push on Ameobi - but as the game opened up, the Magpies started to look vulnerable on the break.
It took a vital interception by Jenas to prevent Ricardo Fuller's 76th-minute cross from reaching LuaLua at the far post and Newcastle were running out of ideas.
Ameobi failed to make the most of an Olivier Bernard cross and Dyer fired over 10 minutes from time as the clock ran down, but O'Neil could have won it for the visitors two minutes later, only to head wide from Stone's cross.
Salvation might have arrived at the death when Ameobi played a one-two with Robert and toe-poked the ball towards goal, but his effort flew wide.