Newcastle through as Martins grabs brace
Martins on song for Newcastle
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Thursday, 28, Sep 2006 10:49
Obafemi Martins went some way to winning over the St James' Park faithful as his two strikes gave Newcastle a 3-1 aggregate win over Levadia Tallinn.
A £10 million signing from Inter Milan, the Nigerian has yet to convince many in the Gallowgate, but he looked to be finding his feet with a vibrant performance in the Magpies' 2-1 win on the night.
Martins' first came on 47 minutes as Newcastle sought to maintain the attacking momentum they had built in the first half.
Turkish playmaker Emre's inch-perfect corner was met with a deft header that gave Artur Kotenko no chance in the visitors' goal.
Antoine Sibierski scored the only goal when the teams met in the Estonian capital and it was his flick-on that allowed Glenn Roeder's men to double their advantage just three minutes after the opener.
His header rebounded clear off the crossbar to Martins whose fierce drive thumped down off the same section of woodwork and in.
The first-half had seen Newcastle dominant, but unable to pick apart a compact Levadia team and they were reduced for the most part to long-range efforts from Emre and James Milner.
Levadia only came forward once Martins' goals had put the game out of sight and substitute Indrek Zelinski nodded in a consolation goal just after the hour mark.
But a comeback never seemed likely with the hosts just as likely to restore a three-goal as the game slowed towards the final whistle.