Butt steals show with double hit

Steve McClaren saw an English midfielder get off the bench and score twice as Newcastle United fought back to draw 3-3 with Spain's Villarreal at St James' Park. But it was not Scott Parker, who could be in line for a recall to the England squad under the new regime; it was Nicky Butt, whose international days are behind him.

The Spaniards, who reached the semi-finals of the Champions' League last season - had looked in control after moving 3-1 ahead through Moreno Josico, the former Arsenal winger Robert Pires and Gonzalo Rodriguez just after the hour. But Butt scored twice from corners to rescue Newcastle.

Martin O'Neill got his reign as Aston Villa's manager off to a quiet start with a 0-0 draw away to Hanover. The Ulsterman left the team in the charge of Eric Steele, Villa's goalkeeping coach, for what proved to be a low-key match, as he had taken over only on Friday night. One of his first tasks will be to ensure that Gareth Barry, a fringe England player, feels wanted. "I would like to keep good players and Gareth Barry is certainly one of them. He is one of the really good players at the football club. I hope that we can convince him we want him to do well," O'Neill said.

He will have a couple of matches in Holland, against NEC Nijmegen and FC Groningen, in which to assess his players before Villa embark on their Premiership season at Arsenal's Emirates Stadium on 19 August.

Dimitar Berbatov earned Tottenham a 1-1 draw at Borussia Dortmund with his third goal of the north London club's pre-season friendlies. The Bulgarian, signed for £10.8m from Bayer Leverkusen, equalised with a smart finish before half-time after Alexander Frei, the Swiss international, had put Borussia ahead against the run of play.

Fulham, also in Germany, continued their promising build-up to the season by edging Borussia Mönchengladbach 1-0. The only goal came when Heidar Helguson put pressure on the defence and induced an own goal headed past the Borussia goalkeeper, Kasey Keller.