Match Reports

Blackburn 0 – 2 Newcastle United

Wednesday 1 February 2012 8pm



Blackburn 0

Newcastle United 2 (Dann og 12, Obertan 90)

If ever the result was everything, that would be tonight.

Easily the worst Newcastle United performance of the season rewarded with three points, you couldn’t make it up.

In fact the first United shot on target came in injury time when Obertan’s one-two with Lovenkrands saw the late substitute go clear and finish with a coolness that had eluded Newcastle all match.

As I watched this rubbish unfold I pictured a Geordie, one who had been on a long contract in some remote corner of the globe, able to hear our results but not see how we’d got to this point. I then picture him parachuting back into the Geordie Nation and watching this match, United up to fifth and one of the worst games of football you could ever see. Geordie’s head must be spinning like there’s no tomorrow.

If I had to sum up this match (which is kind of my job today), I can pay it no greater compliment than by saying this could have been Shola’s worst ever performance! I know there is some serious competition for that ‘title’ but I do think tonight does deserve that accolade.

After 12 minutes Raylor (Ryan Taylor) bought a ticket outside the box and even though that ticket was going wide, Scott Dann supplied a wicked deflection which put Newcastle on their way to fifth place.

Blackburn had a lot of chances after that but only because..(1) Newcastle were abysmal…(2) The referee was nearly as bad and..(3) Blackburn actually had more idea than our lot, which didn’t take much.

People falling over, dodgy penalty, passing to the opposition…this game had it all, apart from quality.

As half-time neared maybe the crucial moment arrived, abysmal referee Phil Dowd awarding a soft penalty, only for a Tim Krul double save to thwart the charva Mancs.

I’d love to say this invigorated United but it was more of the same after half-time, Pardew bringing Perch on for Ben Arfa and even though the utility man was actually one of our better players, it totally summed up the limited options at Pardew’s disposal.

The cavalry are on their way back in the shape of Ba and Cisse but with this set of players will the expectations prove too much?

Today illustrates the gap between Newcastle’s best and….the rest. I can’t begin to explain how bad Shola, Williamson, Best, Guthrie, Ryan Taylor and others were – suffice to say this match saw only, Krul, Santon, Coloccini and Jonas emerge with some honour intact.

Maybe in the future people will look back at our Champions League finish this season as a bit like the disbelief of how the great pyramids were built.

I’ll like to leave you with one thought; Obertan finished the match off with a cool finish after running from the halfway line, would you have put money on Best or Shola to do the same?

Blackburn Rovers (4-5-1): Paul Robinson (c), Jason Lowe, Scott Dann, Gael Givet, Martin Olsson, Morten Gamst Pedersen, Radosav Petrovic (Mauro Formica 66), Steven Nzonzi, David Dunn (Ruben Rochina 78), Junior Hoilett, Anthony Modeste.

Subs not used: Mark Bunn, Adam Henley, Grant Hanley, Simon Vukcevic, Jordan Slew.

Newcastle United (4-2-3-1): Tim Krul, Danny Simpson, Mike Williamson, Fabricio Coloccini (c), Davide Santon, Ryan Taylor (Gabriel Obertan 89), Danny Guthrie, Hatem Ben Arfa (James Perch 46), Jonas Gutierrez, Leon Best (Peter Lovenkrands 77), Shola Ameobi.

Subs not used: Rob Elliot, Shane Ferguson, Mehdi Abeid, Dan Gosling.

Referee: Phil Dowd (Staffordshire)

Attendance: 20,817



