Newcastle head into Uefa last-16
Obafemi Martins struck on 68 minutes
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Thursday, 22, Feb 2007 11:11
Newcastle have made it into the next round of the Uefa Cup on the back of a sluggish 1-0 win over Belgian side Zulte-Waregem at St James' Park.
Glenn Roeder's side had done the hard work in the away leg in Flanders where a 3-1 victory had all but guaranteed progress.
But it was still a disappointing showing from the Magpies, who relied on in-from striker Obafemi Martins to score the game's only goal deep into the second half.
It had seemed that Newcastle might be in for a confidence-boosting evening when the opening minutes saw the visitors reeling. Steven Taylor and James Milner both came close to exploiting some chaotic defending.
But Zulte found their feet and were soon posing problems of their own at the other end.
Last-gasp challenges from Taylor and Titus Bramble were needed to narrowly avert one-on-one chances for Ludwin Vannieuwenhuyse and Sebastien Siani.
Bart Buysse wasted a glaring opportunity for the visitiors early in the second half as his header squirted wide from six yards out, in stark contrast to Martins' composed finish just a few minutes later.
The former Inter Milan forward raced onto a through-ball from Damien Duff before guiding a clipped finish past Sammy Boussut to seal the game.
An exquisite curling free-kick from Milner came close to giving the scoreline a more flattering look, but it drifted just wide of the upright.
Dutch side AK Alkmaar now await in the next round and Newcastle will require a more polished display to ensure they progress again.