Newcastle held to goalless draw by Pompey
Michael Owen was guilty of missing chances as Newcastle drew a blank
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Monday, 27, Apr 2009 10:18
Newcastle's hopes of avoiding relegation took another blow as they were held to a goalless draw by Portsmouth at St James' Park.
The importance of the game was evident by the team Alan Shearer picked, which included Michael Owen, Obafemi Martins, Mark Viduka and Alan Smith in an ultra-attacking line-up.
The Newcastle fans in attendance, including Toon legends Bobby Robson and Paul Gascoigne, were doing an amazing job of making as much noise as possible in the hope of carrying their side to a win which would have gone a long way of saving them from relegation.
Newcastle looked to be feeding off the energy from their boisterous fans as they started the game well. Only a perfectly timed challenge from Glen Johnson prevented Martins from shooting when inside the penalty. The Magpies could have had a spot-kick if Johnson had miss-timed his tackle.
Shearer suffered a blow in the first-half when he was forced to move Damien Duff to left-back after Jose Enrique had to go off after pulling his hamstring.
Newcastle had another penalty appeal correctly turned down when a shot from Smith struck Hermann Hreidarsson on the arm.
Pompey were finding it difficult to create meaningful chances and the only decent effort hey had in the first-half was a shot from Sean Davis which was tipped-over by Steve Harper.
Martins had had the best chance for Newcastle in the first-half when he fired over the bar from eight yards out after Portsmouth failed to clear the ball from their penalty area.
The penalty appeals came thick and fast, but this time it came from Portsmouth and they seemed to have a decent shout for a spot-kick. Newcastle defender Fabricio Colloccini looked to bring down Peter Crouch in the area, but the referee turned away Portsmouth's appeals.
Owen had been on the fringes of the game, but came to the fore when he was slipped through on goal by Viduka, but his effort was tame and too close to David James.
The England keeper also did well to save from both Martins and Viduka when they were through on his goal.
Newcastle surged forward late on in search of the winner, but in the end were lucky to get a point as Portsmouth nearly scored when Richard Hughes saw his header come back off the post.