Portsmouth 0 – Newcastle United 3, hmmm…well?

Posted by: Clarky · December 14, 2008

I thought Pompey edged the 1st half, while we comfortably won the 2nd. Pompey made an @rse of their chances, while we took ours well and could easily have had a couple more.

Michael Owen scoring Newcastle's first goal against Pompey

Despite making better use of our chances we still conceded possession too easily in that 1st half, when I thought we struggled in midfield.

However, we stuck at it, and getting the 1st goal changed the game in much the same way it did in the home game vs Villa – our confidence visibly soared, we got a grip in midfield and ended the game well on top.

As for Enrique, I thought he was poor to start with, but improved as the game proceeded and he had a really good 2nd half.

Apart from one howler when he passed the ball straight to an opponent well inside our half, I thought Coloccini had a much better game today. N’Zogbia had a very quiet 1st half, but looked more like his old self in the 2nd when he started running at his full-back.

I thought our defence looked well organised, and the problems we did have generally arose from losing possession in bad areas. Bassong had another good game; his uncomplicated style and aerial ability compliments Colloccini’s game very well.

Oba Martins back in his scoring habbits

Owen worked his nuts off and took his goal superbly, not to say very bravely as he really got clattered. The Sky geniuses blamed Calamity for Martins’ goal, whereas the ‘slo-mo’ showed he actually dummied James into going to ground before side-footing it past him.

What’s more his 25 yard swinging scorcher in the 1st half that struck the inside of James’ left hand post would have been a candidate for Goal of the Season. I can see some signs that under JFK’s direction Oba is beginning to become a better team player. Let’s just hope he hasn’t incurred a serious injury.

Danny Guthrie has another solid performance for Newcastle

Our first away win, and a very solid team performance against a big, physical team that are usually a handful on their own ground will hopefully provide a turning point in this dreadful season.

Seeing a much stronger team and bench than had been reported only yesterday, also provides a degree of comfort. What’s more Xisco is fit again!

Tags: Danny Guthrie, Michael Owen, Newcastle United, Obafemi Martins

This entry was posted on Sunday, December 14th, 2008 at 10:30 pm and is filed under Game Review, Joe Kinnear, Michael Owen, Obafemi Martins. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed, or trackback from your own site.