Shearer's fire, Megson's ire
Newcastle United 2 West Bromwich Albion 1
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Your support makes all the difference.As the Toon Army joyfully chorused, it was indeed the "same old Shearer – always scoring". It was Alan Shearer's sixth goal of the season, his 97th in the Premiership for Newcastle and his 124th in all competitions for his hometown club.
The right-foot shot the Newcastle captain crashed into the Gallowgate End goal midway through the second half at St James' Park yesterday ensured his team followed a Champions' League defeat with a Premiership victory for a third successive Saturday. It was a typical Shearer strike: a first-time trigger response to a knocked-down header by Nolberto Solano. His first goal of the afternoon was rather different, though, and not just because it was the first the veteran poacher had ever plundered against West Bromwich Albion. Newcastle were 1-0 down and treading water in the wake of their midweek trip to Turin until the tide was turned in their favour by what could best be described as a harsh refereeing decision, in the final minute of the opening half.
Igor Balis, having given Albion a deserved 27th-minute lead, was deemed to have passed the ball back to his goalkeeper when a stray Solano cross clearly hit the Slovakian wing-back on the legs before rolling to Joe Murphy. It could hardly have been described as intentional, but the referee, Chris Foy, saw it that way. The free-kick he awarded just outside the six-yard line was touched on by Solano and, with all eleven West Bromwich players standing on the goal-line, Shearer hit the target with a right-foot drive.
It left Gary Megson, a Newcastle player for two years in the 1980s, raging with indignation long after the final whistle. "We lost our last two league games in controversial circumstances but nowhere near as controversial as that," the Albion manager fumed. "We are aggrieved. If Igor Balis was trying to pass the ball back in the six-yard box he would be in big trouble at our club. Igor wasn't trying to do that. The ball just hit him.
"I haven't seen that decision given for I don't know how long. I spoke to a manager of a club similar to ours and he said we would have to get used to it as a smaller club – decisions going against you when you play the bigger clubs. I've seen nothing to dispel that view."
Still, there was little sympathy from the home camp for Megson. They did, after all, have a perfectly valid Shearer goal disallowed when Newcastle were 1-0 down in the Stadio delle Alpi on Tuesday night – as the Dutch referee subsequently confessed to the Newcastle captain after the 2-0 loss to Juventus. As Sir Bobby Robson duly reflected: "It was a controversial incident, yes, for sure. But we had one of those on Tuesday and got nowt, so I'm not complaining."
The Newcastle manager had good reason to complain about his team's performance as they laboured sluggishly through the first half against a West Brom side looking sharp and threatening on the break. Sir Bobby's boys were fortunate to escape damage or punishment when Jason Roberts broke through the middle and was tugged to the ground by Andy O'Brien. And it came as no surprise when Albion took the lead, Balis, at 32 retired from Slovakian international duty, sweeping a goalscoring shot under the diving Shay Given after combining with the razor-sharp Roberts on the right edge of the Newcastle penalty area.
The 3,000 travelling Baggies fans were still celebrating as half-time approached, but they were screaming in fury when the referee – like West Bromwich Albion, a debutant in the Premiership this season – gave his fateful back-pass decision. The Albion players were still protesting as they left the field at the break and, ultimately, Megson's men paid the price for wallowing in their deep sense of injustice.
They allowed Newcastle to get on to the front foot from the start of the second half and Craig Bellamy had already headed wide a sitter of a chance before Shearer pounced in the 69th minute, snaffling Solano's knock-down after a cross from the left by Gary Speed. Then again, though, Roberts missed a gilt-edged opportunity in the dying seconds at the other end, after tying the entire Newcastle defence in knots. It was Shearer's – not Albion's – day.
Newcastle United 2
Shearer 45, 69
West Bromwich Albion 1
Balis 27
Half-time: 1-1 Attendance: 52,142
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