Pompey hold toothless Toon

Shearer's search for first win continues after dismal draw

By Elliot Ball   Last updated: 27th April 2009   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Pompey hold toothless Toon

Viduka: Squandered chance

Man of the match:
Nicky Butt put his heart and soul into trying to help Newcastle secure a win and was everywhere on the park, making crucial challenges until the midfielder had to be subbed through injury.

Moment of the match:
When Richard Hughes latched onto Jermaine Pennant's 82nd minute corner it was a heart-in-mouth moment for Toon fans as the midfielder's header struck the post to prevent Pompey from snatching victory.

Miss of the match:
Michael Owen's golden opportunity in the 63rd minute. Chances were at a premium for the Magpies striker, but when the time came the former Liverpool marksman fluffed his lines.

Talking point:
Will Newcastle rue not securing the three points manager Alan Shearer demanded and are Portsmouth now safe?

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Newcastle picked up a point in the goalless draw with Portsmouth, but doubts remain whether they can stay up after Monday's lacklustre result.

It was a night of few chances at St James' Park, where optimism was sky-high prior to kick-off - but it was not met with a survival-inspiring performance.

Interim Toon boss Alan Shearer went for a three-pronged attack with Obafemi Martins, Mark Viduka and Michael Owen starting up front, and the striking trio squandered all of Newcastle's best chances with Owen missing the best of the lot.

Pompey looked comfortable for long periods and finished the match the better with Peter Crouch missing a one-on-one while Richard Hughes hit the post late on with a header.

Shearer had set his side the task of winning their remaining three home games to drag themselves out of relegation trouble but, having fallen at the first hurdle, they now face the daunting prospect of having to get something at Liverpool on Sunday.

The 38-year-old stand-in manager had appealed in advance for passionate support from the stands and he got just that, with the help of a rousing rendition of Blaydon Races from opera star Graeme Danby moments before kick-off.

Response

But what he needed most was a response from his players and he got that too.

Newcastle took the game to Pompey from the off and, what they lacked in guile and craft in the middle of the park, they made up for in effort and commitment.

With Pompey fielding Crouch as a lone striker and, at times, getting all 11 men behind the ball, the Magpies had to remain patient however.

Alan Smith had optimistic appeals for a penalty waved away by referee Mike Riley when his driven 30th-minute shot was blocked by Hermann Hreidarsson's arm and the former Manchester United midfielder fired just over five minutes later.

In the meantime, Viduka only just failed to turn a low drive from substitute Danny Guthrie, on for injured full-back Jose Enrique, past James.

But Newcastle's best two chances of the half came inside the final seven minutes, James making a fine save to push Duff's goal-bound effort around the post, while Martins saw a close-range shot deflected over the bar with seconds remaining.

Pompey created little as they attempted to hit their hosts on the counter-attack, although Harper had to tip a 33rd-minute curler from Sean Davis over the bar.

Glorious chance

Viduka was presented with a glorious chance to open the scoring within seconds of the restart after Owen cleverly back-heeled Martins' pass into his path.

However, the Australian could only stab his effort straight at James as the blue shirts closed on him.

Fabricio Coloccini endured a heart-stopping moment when Crouch went to ground inside the box under his 50th-minute challenge but, again, Riley was in no mood to award a spot-kick.

James was alert enough to prevent Martins from reaching a long ball four minutes later, if only just, but, as the game became increasingly stretched, play switched rapidly from end to end.

The Pompey keeper almost handed Newcastle a glorious chance on a plate when he dropped Duff's cross with Viduka and Owen close at hand, although he redeemed himself with 63 minutes gone.

Viduka managed to squeeze the ball through the Portsmouth defence, despite having been wrestled to the ground, to leave Owen with just the keeper to beat, but James blocked with his legs to leave Shearer with his head in his hands.

The manager introduced Andy Carroll and Jonas Gutierrez for Viduka and Nicky Butt in a desperate attempt to find a winner but it was Nadir Belhadj who forced a fine fingertip save from Harper after a lightning 73rd-minute break.

Carroll looped a 77th-minute header high over but it was Pompey who staged the grandstand finish that might have resulted in victory had Crouch been able to beat Harper or had Hughes' header landed six inches to the right.

Newcastle UnitedTeam StatisticsPortsmouth
0Goals0
01st Half Goals0
4Shots on Target3
5Shots off Target9
5Blocked Shots5
7Corners10
14Fouls10
1Offsides1
2Yellow Cards2
0Red Cards0
79.4Passing Success75.3
18Tackles25
61.1Tackles Success72
51.7Possession48.3
47.6Territorial Advantage52.4
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Comments (5)

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Philip Randall (Portsmouth fan) says...

To be honest this game proved what a lot of people outside of Newcastle have known for a long time. Newcastle are just a poor team. Now amount of Messiahs or so called passionate fans (most of whom had left before the game had finished cause they know they dont have the quality in their team to stay in the Premier League) can hide that. For too long we have heard Newcastle "are too good to go down" well guess what? You are going down and so many fans will be happy about it!!! Now make sure you take Sunderland and the Boro with you. Come on West Brom escape relegation and make Pompeys away days out next season something to look forward too!!!

Posted 01:45 28th April 2009

Neil Mccauley (Newcastle United fan) says...

Newcastle will never score if they continue to pass the ball sideways and backwards. There seems to be not one player who can pass the ball forward and attempt something special in the way of a defense splitting pass or a deft ball in behind the opposition backline. Yes Newcastle played with commitment but that will not guarantee survival. Someone in that team needs to start being greedy with the ball and start to make things happen. The 3 up front tonight might not have had the best of nights but at least they looked like they could give Newcastle a fighting chance in games to come.

Posted 00:34 28th April 2009

Martin Quince (Newcastle United fan) says...

The performance by Newcastle tonight did not match the reception the fans gave the team. They do not deserve to be playing Premiership football next season and they don't deserve the loyalty shown by the fans. All the players at the club collecting their huge pay every week should hang their heads in shame, because I am ashamed to be a Newcastle fan at the moment - and it hurts to say that after following the club for so long!

Posted 23:40 27th April 2009

Kyle Graham (Leeds United fan) says...

Poor finishing cost Newcastle dearly unfortunatly. Michael Owen doesnt do enough and when he cant finish like recently you are basically playing with 10 men. He should be dropped i think. I hope the toon dont get relegated because it would be a shame to have another club like us with such a big status to be in the lower leagues. However if we get promoted and Newcastle get relegated there will definatly be more interest in the Championship than there probably ever has been especially for the Leeds vs Newcastle matches which would surely be a treat.

Posted 23:29 27th April 2009

David Wilson (Newcastle United fan) says...

Ok - reality is we need to match Boro and Hull results at every game but somewhere win when Hull lose - a very big ask and reality says we are down - but this is Newcastle and we do things a bit differently up here so why not!!

Posted 22:59 27th April 2009
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