WAS IT £16m? Or £17m? Two weeks ago it seemed a lot of money but yesterday it was easy to understand why Newcastle paid so much to bring Michael Owen back to his homeland.

The England striker spent much of the afternoon terrorising Manchester City’s defence, got the game’s only goal and left us with the feeling the money was well spent. It capped a wretched week for City, who have lost three matches in seven days.

Newcastle remain an ambitious club but they no longer have a very good team. Until Graeme Souness finds one, they need to win as many matches as they can: hence, the arrival of Owen. This was a match Newcastle would probably have drawn if the striker had not been brought in. Two weeks ago he made his home debut but it was yesterday that Newcastle’s fans got a sense of the real Owen.

As well as that first-half goal, there were the runs and shots and the sharpness that have made the former Liverpool and Real Madrid player such a prolific forward.

The goal came 18 minutes into the game and was pure Owen. A hopeful clearance was lofted forward by Jean-Alain Boumsong towards Alan Shearer, who was beaten to the header by Richard Dunne. The clearance went up in the air, Shearer and Sylvain Distin went for it and the skirmish ended with the ball falling kindly for Lee Bowyer, who played it first-time into the path of Owen.

Part of Owen’s quality is that he sees the runs so early that he is gone before defenders can react. Because he went so quickly, the pass was straightforward and although Dunne scampered back, Owen sensed his arrival and quickly got his right foot to the ball, pushed it past David James and into the corner of the net.

Everything about the goal hinged on the striker’s instinct and timing, qualities that ensure he will go on scoring goals.

There might have been more for him. When Distin slipped in midfield six minutes before the break, he gave Shearer the chance to play Owen through. The pass was precise, Owen had a clear run on goal but perhaps too much time and his shot was well saved by James.

It was actually a good save because when James spread himself, there was a partial eclipse of the sun in the northeast and Owen didn’t see much of the target. The striker did rather better just before the break, chesting the ball across Distin and then angling his body well before cracking his volley just over the bar.

Although his team were outplayed in the second half, Owen still came closer than anybody to notching the game’s second goal when almost getting on the end of Lee Clark’s fine cross. Without their new striker, Newcastle’s attacking threat was negligible.

Shearer remains as willing as he has always been, but no longer as nimble and certainly nowhere near as quick.

Other parts of the team are in reasonable order. Scott Parker continues to do an outstanding job as the team’s holding midfield player. He didn’t so much play in front of his back four but patrol that area with unrelenting efficiency; tackles were won, passes were made, runs were covered and always without fuss.

What standard do Chelsea aspire to when they let one as good as this go? Parker wasn’t the only success in midfield, because the young Frenchman Charles N’Zogbia had a fine match. This is a player Bobby Robson earmarked for better things and it was easy to see why.

N’Zogbia is perfectly balanced and quick. He is also prepared to work hard and he was always a threat yesterday.There were signs too that Titus Bramble and Boumsong are beginning to work as a partnership in the centre of defence.

They gave City few chances yesterday, although they will not often have as feeble a threat as that presented by Darius Vassell and Antoine Sibierski.

Sibierski should have scored as early as the sixth minute when Newcastle’s defence went to sleep and allowed the French player a free header from Joey Barton’s free kick.

Luckily for the home side, the header flew close enough to Shay Given for the goalkeeper to get his left foot in the way and the chance was lost.

City would never come as close again and even though they dominated possession throughout the second half, they didn’t enough power up front. Barton was about their best player and the most likely to create or score an equaliser.

Late in the game he controlled the ball neatly, set himself up for a shot that could well have gone in but Bramble arrived with a perfectly timed and well-executed tackle.

The game ended with Newcastle holding on but well satisfied. Their new striker has stepped up to the mark. The question, is can the team do the same?

STAR MAN: Michael Owen (Newcastle)

Player ratings. Newcastle: Given 6, Carr 6, Boumsong 6, Bramble 6, Babayaro 6, Bowyer 6 (Faye 70min, 6), Clark 6, Parker 6, N’Zogbia 7, Shearer 6 (Ameobi 76min, 6), Owen 8

Manchester City: James 6, Onuoha 6, Distin 6, Dunne 6, Thatcher 6, Sun 6, Barton 7, Reyna 6, Musampa 6 (Ireland 60min, 6), Sibierski 6 (Croft 76min, 6), Vassell 6

Scorer: Newcastle: Owen 18

Referee: G Poll

Attendance: 52,280

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