Europa League Highlights
Newcastle’s return to the Europa League was nowhere near as exciting as people were expecting after last night’s game in Portugal ended in a bore draw.
Neither team managed to score at a game which resembled a pre-season friendly with a tiny home crowd and a small travelling Newcastle contingent. Alan Pardew fielded a young squad missing a number of notable names which some may say is the reason for the result ending in a 0-0 draw.
Even though the match ended a goalless draw, Newcastle were in the driving seat from the word go, controlling the match with ease. With Shola Ameobi at the helm, Newcastle played a calm game and took their chances with three chances on goal all hitting the post. To say Newcastle needed a bit of luck would have been an understatement. Maritimo had a few chances with Davide Santon heading a ball off the line to keep the score level. Newcastle’s midfield failed to assert themselves and this hurt them going forward but a draw isn’t a bad result for their first return into the second tier of European football.
One interesting fact surrounding last night’s match was that on the 53rd minute when Sammy Ameobi took to the pitch and joined his brother Shola they are the first brothers to ever play for Newcastle at the same time on the European stage. Newcastle United are currently 3rd in their group of the Europa League whilst Bordeaux take their place at the top of the table with a 4-0 win against Club Bruges.
In other Europa League highlights, Liverpool beat Young Boys in a heated match which ended 5-3 in favour of Liverpool whilst Tottenham’s 0-0 draw against Lazio was tainted with racist chanting from the Italian fans.
