Newcastle United 2, Sunderland 0

Apr 21 2008 by Luke Edwards, The Journal

THERE are plenty of words that could be used to describe Newcastle United’s derby win but none will hurt their Sunderland rivals more than to say this was a routine victory for the Magpies.

In derbies, the least you want from your side is a sense of urgency, a sense of occasion, a sense that the result matters to the players as much as it does to those who follow the club.

What you do not want is a sense that the result was never in any serious doubt, that your team has been easily beaten, brushed aside with nonchalant ease and that the better team won at a canter.

Yet, as Newcastle celebrate an eighth year without a derby defeat, that is precisely how Sunderland will feel this morning. Beaten, battered and bruised, they now have to look forward to the less-than-simple task of ensuring they collect the points needed to be certain this season still does not have an even nastier sting in the tail – relegation.

Alarmingly, while a Newcastle victory looked almost assured from the moment Michael Owen exposed Paul McShane’s rustiness at right-back to head in Geremi’s excellent cross, the home side did not even have to play well to achieve it.

Suddenly, after the optimism brought by three successive wins, Sunderland’s revival has ground to a shuddering halt.

In contrast, Newcastle’s revival continues to gather momentum. They are undefeated in six games, have won their last three at home and there is a growing belief that, under Kevin Keegan’s charismatic leadership, the club stands on the brink of another exciting new era.

Nobody should dare to suggest that this has been a good season for the club. It has been a massive disappointment, but as we approach the summer break, there is enough to suggest that there are, at the very least, the foundations in place for a successful side.

Newcastle have played better than this as they have dragged themselves back up the Premier League table, but as we are so often told, the result is the most important thing in football and that is most certainly true when it comes to a derby.

It has been a long time since St James’s Park saw an atmosphere like this, but as the game drew to a close the famous stadium shook with the collective delight of 50,000 happy voices and Sunderland’s travelling fans could only look on in depressed silence.

Sunderland just never got going as an attacking force and, while Newcastle’s football was for prolonged periods disjointed and scrappy, the Wearsiders seemed utterly incapable of capitalising on their mistakes.

It would be tempting to suggest, given his two goals, that the difference between the two sides was Michael Owen, but while his contribution was a crucial one, the gap in quality in between the two was more than just one England international striker, no matter how good he may be.

It seems farcical in the present environment to suggest sections of Newcastle’s support failed to take to Owen following his club-record move from Real Madrid almost three years ago, but injuries and the perception he was more interested in playing for England than the club that pays his wages meant it has taken the forward a little longer than expected to become a Newcastle hero.

Nobody, though, can question that this is the status he now holds. His derby brace takes his tally for the season to 12 from 25 starts, while his goals-per-game ratio in a black-and-white shirt is almost one every two games.

No wonder Keegan believes getting the 28-year-old to sign a new contract will be his most important signing of the summer. Significantly, the vast majority of supporters wholeheartedly will agree with him.

His first goal was classic Owen, anticipating the cross a split second before the defender and then planting a header into the corner of the net. The second was more quality stuff, a clever one-two with Mark Viduka before lifting the ball over a sliding Danny Higginbotham.

The Sunderland man was perhaps a little unfortunate that the ball hit his arm, but it prevented Owen from progressing in the area and referee Alan Wiley had little option to award the spot-kick.

It probably summed up Sunderland’s day that even though Owen’s penalty was a poor one, his low shot somehow managed to squeeze under Craig Gordon and trickle into the net.

The goals came at ideal times for Newcastle. The first after just four minutes and the second a minute before the break, but still Sunderland failed to react in the expected manner.

The closest they came to a goal in the first half was a Dean Whitehead volley which flew over the bar, while in the second Kenwyne Jones – who was well dealt with by Steven Taylor and Abdoulaye Faye all afternoon – put a header too close to Steve Harper, who made a sharp save.

An Andy Reid effort from outside the area briefly caused the Newcastle goalkeeper a moment of concern before it dropped over the bar, but in the main, all Harper had to do was restart the game with long kicks upfield.

Despite failing to spark back into life in the second period, Newcastle should have extended their winning margin midway through the second half when Obafemi Martins was played in by Owen. The Nigerian was strangely subdued for much of the contest and his finish was a poor one, blasting the ball straight at Gordon after a poor first touch had taken him too wide.

It was nothing more than a very brief footnote in a game which failed – on the pitch – to do the occasion justice. Not that any Newcastle fans will worry much about that as they look forward to at least another four months of local bragging rights.

There is enough to suggest that there are, at the very least, the foundations for a successful side