What a great way of kick-starting the Chinese Lunar New Year: by handing Liverpool and that arrogant brat Bellamy a loss! Having left Newcastle on bad terms, I fully expected Bells to play like a man on a revenge mission and he didn't disappoint. He tormented our full backs with his pace, especially poor Baba, and scored a goal (with some help from our goalie Harper). Harper kicked the ball straight to another famed bad-boy, Pennant, and he crossed the ball for a simple finish by Bells. More great chances for Bells came but fortunately his famed bad finishing (and a ton of luck for us) came to our rescue.
Now cue our fightback. Reina committed a howler of his own by clearing a ball straight at Martins and his own defender Agger when it seemed easier to clear elsewhere. Now such stupidity shouldn't go unrewarded, and the ball bounced off kindly for a simple tap-in by Martins. Then came the coup de grace: our very own rookie defender Steven Taylor DRIBBLES into Liverpool's box where he gets tripped by a clumsy Riise. Solano stepped up and his cool poise made the penalty a simple task…
Kudos must be given to Baba; His younger brother had passed away from TB the night before and yet he chose to play for Newcastle the next day. The win made a fitting tribute to his brother. I always thought he was an average player but as a man, he is top-class!
To add to the festive good news, we beat part-timers Zulte-Waregem 3-1 (even Bramble played well for once) in the first away leg of the UEFA Cup (dunno which round). A brilliant lofted pass by the crafty Solano found Dyer in space and his low cross bounced off an unfortunate defender (turns out he's Siberiski's best friend…hmm some brotherly help perhaps?) Then it was a penalty awarded to Newcastle and Solano graciously allowed Martins to coolly slot it home. After a consolation goal by Waregem, Siberiski (of all people) scored a marvellous goal. Nutmegging a player, speeding past another, rounding the keeper and a simple tap-in showed why I think he's Newcastle's bargain buy this season! Check out the goals here!
Brilliant results over the New Year and hopefully more to come in the second leg this week!
