Hatem Ben Arfa
New member
ooooOOOOHHH he almost scored again. Should have had a Hat-Trick
Haris Vučkić
- Thread starter Hatem Ben Arfa
- Start date
Hatem Ben Arfa
New member
Won Newcastle the game today.
First goal for Newcastle and the winner. Deflected but can't take anything away from his performance today. was great. should have had a Hat-Trick.
First goal for Newcastle and the winner. Deflected but can't take anything away from his performance today. was great. should have had a Hat-Trick.
Hatem Ben Arfa
New member
Haris Vuckic winner puts Newcastle into Europa League group stage
• Newcastle 1-0 Atromitos (Newcastle win 2-1 on agg)
• Scorer: Vuckic 21 mins
• Promising young Slovenian knocks out Greek side
Newcastle United's first European home game for more than five years ended in a win illuminated by a fine goal from the impressive Haris Vuckic and tinged by a diving controversy that saw Tim Krul arguably fortunate not to be sent off and concede a penalty.
No matter; Alan Pardew's team are in the Europa League group stage draw and what is more, they made it without calling on a raft of star names rested ahead of Sunday's Premier League date with Aston Villa.
"Impress me" was Pardew's pre-match message to a largely second-string starting XI but their early progress was interrupted by a potentially serious knee injury to Ryan Taylor. With the left-back hobbling off after falling awkwardly in the wake of an innocuous tackle from Ioannis Skondras, Newcastle's manager was forced to shuffle his 4-3-3 formation, shifting James Perch from midfield to full-back as he made room for the introduction of Vuckic. This is a make-or-break season for the talented young Slovenian, whose career has been interrupted by injury, and he did not take long to make an impact.
Collecting a throw in from Danny Simpson on the right, he deceived his marker before unleashing a superb 20-yard shot which, taking the slightest of deflections off Walter Iglesias en route, curved beyond Charles Itandje's reach.
Earlier Atromitos's one-time Liverpool goalkeeper had reacted smartly to repel Sylvain Marveaux's 15-yard shot but, despite Newcastle's dominance, the need for Itandje's acrobatics was largely restricted due to some sub-standard crosses from the otherwise menacing Gabriel Obertan.
At the other end, when the under-employed Tim Krul spilled a shot from the sporadically dangerous Denis Epstein, Chumbinho – aka Marinaldo Da Silva – pounced on the loose ball, rounding Newcastle's goalkeeper before collapsing to the ground as if tripped.
For a moment St James' Park held its collective breath; would Krul be sent off and a penalty awarded? Instead the Swiss referee judged the Brazilian striker guilty of a dive and booked him.
Considering Krul appeared to snatch Chumbinho's shin, it constituted a lucky home escape, perhaps made possible by the victim seeming to exaggerate his fall dramatically.
After that potential game changer, Dusan Bajevic's side – who finished fourth in last season's Greek League – improved significantly as Newcastle failed to retain possession. "The incident unsettled us," said Pardew. "It put us on a knife edge." Shortly afterwards Chumbinho had the ball in the back of the net following Eduardo Luiz Brito's through- pass, only to see his "goal" rightly disallowed for offside.
The game was briefly disrupted by a heavily tattooed male streaker apparently set on having a brief chat with Simpson. Mission accomplished – the right-back even put an arm around him – he happily ran off into the embrace of waiting stewards. At least that pitch intruder had achieved something few imagined possible; making Newcastle's fluorescent green European change strip look attractive.
After that Bajevic's players caused Pardew a few minor anxieties and Elini Dimoutsos missed a sitter for the Greeks. At times in the second half a contest that should long since have been put to bed was tighter than many home fans would have liked. Largely thanks to Vuckic, Pardew had just about balanced his Europa League/Premier League priorities successfully. "We took a bit of a risk with our selection," said Newcastle's manager. "But we did enough."
• Newcastle 1-0 Atromitos (Newcastle win 2-1 on agg)
• Scorer: Vuckic 21 mins
• Promising young Slovenian knocks out Greek side
Newcastle United's first European home game for more than five years ended in a win illuminated by a fine goal from the impressive Haris Vuckic and tinged by a diving controversy that saw Tim Krul arguably fortunate not to be sent off and concede a penalty.
No matter; Alan Pardew's team are in the Europa League group stage draw and what is more, they made it without calling on a raft of star names rested ahead of Sunday's Premier League date with Aston Villa.
"Impress me" was Pardew's pre-match message to a largely second-string starting XI but their early progress was interrupted by a potentially serious knee injury to Ryan Taylor. With the left-back hobbling off after falling awkwardly in the wake of an innocuous tackle from Ioannis Skondras, Newcastle's manager was forced to shuffle his 4-3-3 formation, shifting James Perch from midfield to full-back as he made room for the introduction of Vuckic. This is a make-or-break season for the talented young Slovenian, whose career has been interrupted by injury, and he did not take long to make an impact.
Collecting a throw in from Danny Simpson on the right, he deceived his marker before unleashing a superb 20-yard shot which, taking the slightest of deflections off Walter Iglesias en route, curved beyond Charles Itandje's reach.
Earlier Atromitos's one-time Liverpool goalkeeper had reacted smartly to repel Sylvain Marveaux's 15-yard shot but, despite Newcastle's dominance, the need for Itandje's acrobatics was largely restricted due to some sub-standard crosses from the otherwise menacing Gabriel Obertan.
At the other end, when the under-employed Tim Krul spilled a shot from the sporadically dangerous Denis Epstein, Chumbinho – aka Marinaldo Da Silva – pounced on the loose ball, rounding Newcastle's goalkeeper before collapsing to the ground as if tripped.
For a moment St James' Park held its collective breath; would Krul be sent off and a penalty awarded? Instead the Swiss referee judged the Brazilian striker guilty of a dive and booked him.
Considering Krul appeared to snatch Chumbinho's shin, it constituted a lucky home escape, perhaps made possible by the victim seeming to exaggerate his fall dramatically.
After that potential game changer, Dusan Bajevic's side – who finished fourth in last season's Greek League – improved significantly as Newcastle failed to retain possession. "The incident unsettled us," said Pardew. "It put us on a knife edge." Shortly afterwards Chumbinho had the ball in the back of the net following Eduardo Luiz Brito's through- pass, only to see his "goal" rightly disallowed for offside.
The game was briefly disrupted by a heavily tattooed male streaker apparently set on having a brief chat with Simpson. Mission accomplished – the right-back even put an arm around him – he happily ran off into the embrace of waiting stewards. At least that pitch intruder had achieved something few imagined possible; making Newcastle's fluorescent green European change strip look attractive.
After that Bajevic's players caused Pardew a few minor anxieties and Elini Dimoutsos missed a sitter for the Greeks. At times in the second half a contest that should long since have been put to bed was tighter than many home fans would have liked. Largely thanks to Vuckic, Pardew had just about balanced his Europa League/Premier League priorities successfully. "We took a bit of a risk with our selection," said Newcastle's manager. "But we did enough."
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