Barclays Premiership - Match 16
 

Season 2007-2008

NEWCASTLE UNITED

2 v 1

BIRMINGHAM CITY

  Obafemi Martins 39 (pen) Habib Beye 90

Cameron Jerome 9

  
     
  Date: Saturday 8th December 2007
  Venue: St James' Park
  Kick Off: 3:00pm (BST)
  Australian Live TV: Foxsports 3 via viewers choice
  Attendance: 49,948
  Referee: Rob Styles (Waterlooville, Hampshire)
  Match Preview  
   

Newcastle: : Given, Beye, Taylor, Rozehnal, N'Zogbia, Milner, Barton, Butt (Viduka 31), Geremi (Emre 72) , Martins (Jose Enrique 91), Smith

Subs Not Used:  Harper, Edgar
  Booked: Barton
   

Birmigham: Taylor, Ridgewell, Schmitz, Kelly, Sadler, McSheffrey (Kapo 62), Nafti, Larsson, Muamba, De Ridder (Forssell 76), Jerome

Subs Not Used:  Doyle, Parnaby, O'Conner
  Booked: Nafti, Larsson
     
 

Post Match Comments:

Newcastle boss Sam Allardyce:
"It is a really, really big three points. Nothing else really mattered today but three points, and we got them.

We have worked very, very hard over the last seven days - Blackburn and then Arsenal and now Birmingham - and now finally got what we deserved. Birmingham, for us, is a winnable game. It would have been a huge disappointment had we not won this game today. I would have had to say 'this is not good enough'. As spirited and good a performance as Birmingham put up today, by the amount of dominance we showed in the first half - even though we did play a game in midweek and they did not - we should have put those chances away and put it beyond Birmingham.

They are starting to get to know each other. James Milner's energy is massive in the Premier League today, and with the energy and quality that he's got he was causing most of the problems for Birmingham.Charles N'Zogbia linking up was important, but James is a well-established Premier League player at 21 and can only go on from here. Joey Barton is coming to fruition and he has played three games this week for the first team this season and has not looked fatigued. Alan Smith up front and Steven Taylor at the back are doing well, and the players are starting to get to know each other. The players are now giving of their best on a regular basis."

Birmingham manager Alex McLeish:
"We were comfortable and they got a penalty which gave them momentum and we're aggrieved at the decision. But there are a lot of things to take forward to next week.  The decisions went more in Newcastle's favour than ours. They had a lot of territorial advantage but did not really look like hurting us."

 
     
  Match Report:  
  Newcastle really needed a win to put some distance between themselves and the chasing pack who were hoping to draw themselves out of the relegation battle. Unsurprisingly Sam Allardyce stuck with the same formation that earned a draw against high flying Arsenal early in the week. The general feeling was that if we could play as well as we did against Arsenal the result would be nothing but a win, with the gulf in class between Birmingham and the North London side a sizeable one.

The opening exchanges of the match were balanced, with Birmingham certainly not on the back foot. They were here to play, and were going to test the Newcastle back four at any chance they had. In the ninth minute a seemingly harmless ball played from deep within the Birmingham half by Liam Ridgewell provided a test that the defense had no answer for. The ball came right through the heart of the field, and with Rozehnal unable to get a foot to it, it ran to Cameron Jerome who easily rounded Given side-footing the goal home. It must be said that Rozehnal lacked determination on this defensive play. There was no urgency, in fact you would be forgiven for thinking it was a training match, rather that an important premiership match. Rozehnal could well have been granted an early shower for this misdemeanour, but fortunately for him there was limited options on the bench. For the second time in less than a week, within the first ten minutes Newcastle found themselves down a goal at St James’ Park. How the players would respond would determine not only the results of the match, but the general feelings of the supporters in relation to the new management and players. They needed a win to quell the unrest that had been pushed just below the surface following the Arsenal draw. Another home loss against less fanciable opposition, in miserable conditions was going to bring the worst out of the attending Newcastle fans.

…and did they respond! Milner terrorised the Birmingham defense down the left side of the field, but was unable to put any of his crosses into dangerous positions. The best chance of the game came from a corner, with Martins breaking free from the defense to get some sort of touch on the ball. He was scrambling away from goal, so couldn’t turn it it, but the ball continued through to the back post where Rozehnal headed it hard against both bars. Martins was adjudged to have fouled, so the goal wouldn’t have stood, but it was enough to shake up Birmingham. For once we were looking dangerous from set pieces.

That trend continued in the twenty sixth minute, when Newcastle should have scored the equalising goal. An N’Zogbia free kick from the right channel swerved at pace into the box, finding the boot of an unmarked Martins who pushed his shot goal bound from close range. Unfortunately the ball struck goal keeper Maik Taylor who knew very little about it. With the balance of power swinging Newcastle’s way (despite being behind on the scoreboard) Allardyce made a move, bringing on Mark Viduka for the out of sorts Nicky Butt. Minutes later an advancing Charles N’Zogbia found himself in a good scoring position on the edge of the box, slamming a powerful left footed shot wide. On thirty-six minutes Newcastle received a penalty, after defender Matthew Sadler brought down Obafemi Martins in the box, in what was a foolish challenge. Martins stepped up to take the penalty, and scored it, though there was a strong argument suggesting he was lucky to do so. Goal keeper Taylor got a good hand to the ball, forcing it onto the upright. From there it rolled across the goal face and over the line. A good penalty increases the score by one, and Martins certainly did that, levelling the game at 1-1.

Newcastle continued with their ascendancy and on forty-one minutes could have taken the lead when N’Zogbia’s ball into the box (an exact replica of his twenty-sixth minute effort) found Milner. The wingers touch on the ball was slight, but it was enough to send it goal bound, with Maik Taylor reacting well to push the ball above the crossbar. From the ensuing corner Newcastle came close to scoring yet again. Birmingham failed to clear the ball, and it spilled to Milner at the top of the box. His right footed effort evaded a crowded box beating the keeper, striking the underside of the bar before hitting Taylor on the back. When the halftime whistle blew Birmingham were lucky to be equal on the scoresheet, with Newcastle creating by far the better chances. 		 
 
The second half failed to live up to promise displayed by Newcastle in the later part of the first, with the best chance of the early exchanges falling to Birmingham midfielder Larsson. Thankfully his shot flew wide. Seventy-one minutes in Allardyce again moved for his bench, bringing on Turkish international Emre for Geremi. Minutes later Newcastle were lucky to keep eleven men on the field after Joey Barton made a cynical challenge from behind on a Birmingham forward. Both sides were pushing hard for the win, but neither was able to create a clear cut chance. With just minutes left Emre earned a free-kick in a dangerous position. He stepped up to take the free-kick. A member of the Birmingham wall was lucky not to have gifted Newcastle a penalty when he stuck his arm out, striking the free-kick. Rob Styles was not in a position to see the hand ball, and although it was obvious on replay, he received no assistance from his linesman.

In the ninetieth minute Habib Beye, who had played with determination all game earnt Newcastle a corner. Emre’s corner to the front post was met by Beye, who had done well to slip his defender. His glancing touch bounced the ball into the back of the net and St James’ park erupted. The most enthusiastic celebration were saved for the Newcastle bench, where Allardyce and his coaches could not contain their jubilation. We really needed this win.
 
 

AUSSIE MAGS By DjBigK