Owen Returns

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Owen's return can't help Newcastle break the deadlock



The Newcastle faithful came expecting goals, given their team's bright opening a week ago. However, Sam Allardyce spent much of the run-up to this game dampening expectations, with good reason - Newcastle have not scored a league goal at St James' Park since February, when Nolberto Solano scored a penalty against Liverpool. They seldom looked like breaking that run here and the presence of Michael Owen on the Newcastle bench may have inhibited their front line.



When he came on after an hour he got a standing ovation, born more of hope than respect for Owen's Newcastle record. This was only his fifteenth appearance in the two years since moving to Tyneside from Real Madrid for £16million. The lack of goals leaves Sam Allardyce in the unusual position for a Premier League manager of welcoming an upcoming England game. All the better to get Owen match fit.
This was a game played out largely in the middle third of the pitch. The midfield three of Alan Smith, Nicky Butt and captain Geremi hustled their Villa counterparts. And Newcastle's best moments invariably involved James Milner, whose trickery provided the only real flair on show. Smith's tackling retains its bite, a point Nigel Reo-Coker can testify to. With Gareth Barry and Nicky Butt also going head to head, the middle of the park was not for the faint-hearted.

Along with Obafemi Martins, who started brightly on the left side, Milner gave Wilfred Bouma a hard time. Milner rounded his man to deliver a cross behind Mark Viduka who attempted a scissor kick that would have brought the house down. Villa relied on the physical presence of John Carew up front, who had a series of half chances, the best a header, just over, from a Stilian Petrov cross.

In the best move of the first half Martins burst through the centre, finding Viduka who found Milner with a clever reverse pass. The resulting cross was snuffed out before Smith could convert.

Villa were kept in the game by two saves from Scott Carson, the second of which was good enough to prick the anxiety of first-choice keeper Thomas Sorensen sitting in the stands. The Dane aired his concern this week over Martin O'Neill's motives as to Carson's loan move from Liverpool. On this form he is right to worry.

The Villa manager has problems of his own. Last season Villa suffered a midwinter slump in which they won only twice in 20 games. A lack of firepower was apparent again here, though at the end of the first half a chance emerged after a seemingly directionless run from Gabriel Agbonlahor, whose persistence was rewarded with a clear opening that he snatched wide of Steve Harper's left-hand post. Reo-Coker came closest. A run and clever curling shot was flicked away by a full-stretch Harper. England manager Steve McLaren will have noted the confident display of Steven Taylor, who was called in to the squad for the match against Germany. He handled the threat of Carew and Agbonlahor with aplomb.

Shola Ameobi, on for Viduka, led the line well in the second half, causing Martin Laursen problems in the centre of Villa's defence. But defensive prowess won out as, unsurprisingly, Owen looked off the pace as the game petered out.