Blades plunge Newcastle into winter of discontent
Danny Webber's header gave Sheffield United a deserved three points
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Saturday, 04, Nov 2006 07:59
Danny Webber's second-half header was enough to give Sheffield United a 1-0 win at a bitterly cold St James' Park as Newcastle's season took a further turn for the worse.
The away victory was the Blades' first of the season and sees them overtake Newcastle into 17th place, while Glenn Roeder's team drop into the relegation zone.
Webber's 68th minute goal was in fact the first time that Neil Warnock's men had found the net away from Bramall Lane in the league, but in truth the visitors always looked the more likely to score.
Following Roeder's insistence that the midweek Uefa Cup victory in Palermo would have no bearing on today's game, the rested strikeforce of Damien Duff and Giuseppe Rossi proved impotent against the physical prowess of Sheffield United's rearguard.
A Charles N'Zogbia cross-shot that keeper Paddy Kenny allowed to drop onto his bar was the only time the Magpies looked like putting the ball in the back of the net, with the St James' faithful roundly booing their team at both the half-time and full-time whistles.
Neil Warnock's team started the brighter in the late Premiership kick-off, with Webber breaking free but only managing to find the despairing lunge of Stephen Carr with his cross as Rob Hulse lurked in the box.
James Milner and N'Zogbia had the beating of their full-backs but their crosses were easily dealt with by central defensive duo Claude Davis and Phil Jagielka, as Duff and Rossi proved incapable of offering any sort of aerial challenge.
Some untidy goalkeeping from Kenny gave the away team some nervous moments in the first-half but it was still Sheffield United who ended the opening on top with Hulse testing returning keeper Steve Harper with a rasping shot.
Roeder's response to the chorus of boos was to replace N'Zogbia and Nicky Butt with Emre and Nolberto Solano, but the pint-sized midfielders were just as incapable of countering the Blades' all-action approach.
Newcastle were fortunate to still have a full requisite of players after Australian defender Craig Moore poleaxed Hulse off the ball in the centre circle, but referee Steve Bennett somehow contrived to miss the incident.
With Newcastle bereft of the battering ram talents of Tyneside hero Alan Shearer, Sheffield United continued to look the most threatening, and Webber eventually broke the deadlock midway through the second period after Montgomery ran unchallenged into Newcastle's half.
Webber found himself unmarked eight yards out and stooped to glance the ball past Harper from his team-mate's accurate cross.
The Newcastle comeback failed to materialise and Alan Quinn should have added to Roeder's woes in the dying moments, but he failed to reward his own driving run when his shot cannoned back off the post.
Today's results mean all three sides promoted from the Championship last season now lie outside the bottom three places, but how long Roeder can remain in the St James' hot-seat with his team in 19th remains to be seen.