In the 40th minute though Newcastle were in the lead and in the
In the 40th minute, though, Newcastle were in the lead and in the driving seat – somewhat fortunately so. Tony Popovic appeared to be protecting his face when he was penalised for handling just outside the Palace penalty area. Nolberto Solano rolled the free-kick for Shearer and the Newcastle captain drilled a low drive through the wall.The Palace players were still protesting as they headed for the dressing room at half-time, claiming Popovic had handled unintentionally when the pedantic Mike Riley awarded the free-kick They were protesting nine minutes into the second-half, too. Morrison latched on to a through-ball by Jovan Kirovski and clipped a neat finish past Given – only to find Mr Riley signalling for offside. It was clearly a good goal, though Francis said afterwards: “I couldn’t see from where I was. I was more disappointed with the free-kick decision for the first goal.”Even then, it might have been different for Palace had Given not kept out a thundering Riihilahti header in the 66th minute.
As it was, though, the Irishman made a brilliant two-handed save. And then, with 15 minutes remaining, Acuna delivered the decisive knockout blow, winning the ball on the edge of the Palace penalty area and sweeping a right-foot shot into the roof of the net.Newcastle United 2 Crystal Palace 0 Shearer 40, Acu?6Half-time: 1-0 Attendance: 38,089. It took Liverpool extra time and penalties to edge ahead of Birmingham City when they met in last spring’s Worthington Cup final; yesterday it required only 24 minutes The difference, not for the first time, was Michael Owen. The difference, not for the first time, was Michael Owen.
The European Footballer of the Year sat out February’s final at Cardiff, protecting his fragile hamstrings for greater tests that lay ahead, but yesterday he was unleashed in full and blooming health on the First Division side and he dismissed their FA Cup pretensions with two impeccable strikes.His 18th and 19th goals of the season, crowned by Nicolas Anelka getting off the mark for Liverpool in the 86th minute, converted a potentially difficult third-round tie for the holders into a comfortable and straightforward match that Birmingham, currently 22 places below their opponents on the League ladder, never seriously threatened to contest. They worked, they ran, but they could not cope with Owen.”You can see why he’s scoring every week,” Steve Bruce, Birmingham’s manager, said.
“At the moment he’s on fire.”Phil Thompson, the Liverpool assistant manager, spread the praise more evenly “The whole team showed tremendous attitude,” he said. “I told them that if they didn’t go out there and do it there was a banana skin out there waiting for them.” There was not a hint of a slip by his players.Liverpool’s intent was trumpeted before the kick-off when Thompson announced a team that was weakened only by the exclusion of Emile Heskey, but, as his replacement was Anelka, even that was debatable. So the Frenchman began a game with Owen for the first time, a striking partnership that some believe may falter because of a similarity of styles – a theory undermined here.The world and his dog know Liverpool like to counter-attack and it was probably with this is mind that Birmingham played a 4-1-4-1 formation. But safety in numbers at the back also surrendered possession up front and the match soon became a question of when, not if, the home team would make their monopoly of the ball pay.It might have happened after 14 minutes when only a goal-line clearance by Martin O’Connor prevented Arik Bak heading into his own net, but if Birmingham were grateful for the reprieve then they were ruthlessly ripped apart two minutes later.Steven Gerrard arced a long pass from the right to the opposite flank, Vladimir Smicer won the header and Danny Murphy supplied the most lethal feet in English football with a lean to the left and an adroit pass to his right.