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| Feyenoord dent Newcastle hopes ![]() Pardo got the Dutch side off to a great start Newcastle 0-1 Feyenoord E-mail your reaction to Football Talk Newcastle's Champions League hopes took a turn for the worse as they went down to an impressive Feyenoord side at St James' Park. Feyenoord's on-loan midfielder Sebastian Pardo scored in the fourth minute and it proved to be the difference between the two sides. Newcastle had enough chances to get something out of the game but a mixture of poor finishing and an inspired Edwin Zoetebier in goal kept them out.
With no points from their opening two games and with Juventus still to play twice, Newcastle have it all to do if they are to progress. The home side started brightly and Nolberto Solano crossed for Laurent Robert, who should have done better with his volley than send it past the post. Feyenoord immediately silenced the home fans when they scored with their first attack. A flick-on from Pierre van Hooijdonk was made difficult by poor defending from Newcastle and the ball fell to Pardo who volleyed past Shay Given with the aid of a slight deflection. Thomas Buffel should have made it two when a through ball found him in the clear, but with just Given to beat he slipped the ball agonisingly wide of the upright. Skipper Paul Bosvelt put a free header over the bar from a corner as the Newcastle defence again looked suspect.
Craig Bellamy beat the offside trap and knocked the ball past Zoetebier, but Brett Emerton did well to slide in and save the ball from crossing the line as Newcastle pressed forward. Given then kept out former Newcastle target Emerton's shot as Feyenoord again carved open their suspect backline. Bellamy shot just wide in the 29th minute with Zoetebier well beaten before the keeper kept out a powerful shot from Shearer and a header from Bellamy. After the break, Solano did well to get on the end of a dangerous cross from Robert, but his header was spectacularly tipped over the bar by Zoetebier. From the corner Shearer saw his header cleared off the line by Shinji Ono as Newcastle pressurised. Ono should have sealed the game in the 73rd minute after good work from Buffel, but with just the keeper to beat he sidefooted straight at Given. Robert then found Bellamy and his dipping shot hit the top of the crossbar. Substitute Lomano LuaLua had Newcastle's best chance to snatch an equaliser but he fired his shot wide from close range. The Magpies kept on attacking until the final whistle but it was not to be and they are rock bottom of Group E. Newcastle: Given, Griffin, O'Brien, Dabizas, Hughes, Solano, Dyer, Speed, Robert, Shearer, Bellamy (LuaLua 76). Subs Not Used: Harper, Jenas, Bramble, Ameobi, Bernard, Viana. Feyenoord: Zoetebier, Emerton, Van Wonderen, Paauwe, Rzasa, Song, Bosvelt, Ono, Pardo (Lurling 82), Van Hooijdonk, Buffel. Booked: Bosvelt, Ono, Van Wonderen. Attendance: 40,540. Referee: C Colombo (France). |
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