IT TOOK Alan Shearer 15 years of playing professional football to score his first goal from open play in the Champions League, then, like London buses (pre-congestion charges) and 3-1 victories over Bayer Leverkusen, two came at once. In a bravura performance, the Newcastle United captain, who also scored a penalty, kept his club on course for another miraculous recovery on the only stage he has yet to command.
As Tyneside bobbed to the chant of “England’s No 1” — which must have brought a wince of recognition to Sven-Göran Eriksson, watching from the Milburn Stand — Shearer took his seasonal tally to 21 goals, claimed his third hat-trick for the club, his fifteenth in all competitions and his first since September 1999, Sir Bobby Robson’s opening match on Gallowgate.
That lent a resonance beyond last night’s straightforward win because, under Shearer’s experienced eye, Robson’s team are coming together at the most opportune of moments. They still have half a chance of reaching the knockout stages, a possibility that will hinge on their visit to Inter Milan on March 11.
“The job was to do a job and we did the job,” Robson said, which probably confused matters unnecessarily, given the simplicity of their task. Leverkusen were so poor at the back that Thomas Hörster, their caretaker coach, substituted Cris — possibly the most unconvincing Brazil international — after 29 minutes. “Anybody could look good against a defence like that,” Hörster said.
Shearer, however, looked devastating. At Blackburn Rovers and now at Newcastle, he has mustered just five goals in the Champions League proper (as well as one against FK Zeljeznicar, in the qualifying round), a total that he admitted was “surprising”. But at the peak of his form, surrounded by gilded youth, others will be plundered. “I enjoyed it,” he said, “and hope there are many more to come.” A couple in Italy in a fortnight would not go amiss.
“There’s no reason why we should fall away,” Robson said. “The games are coming thick, fast and heavy, but we want to stay in it and we’re hopeful. The object is to be fighting fit in the Barclaycard Premiership, get back here and perhaps do better, but we won’t be afraid of Inter. We’ll go with a lot of confidence.”
Hörster, meanwhile, promised to field his “strongest” team in Leverkusen’s remaining games in group A against Barcelona and Inter, but that was not a guarantee you would take to your bank manager. In a first half of dominance, Newcastle split the Germans asunder in the fifth, eleventh and 36th minutes and Robson’s contention that his team possess the potential to better any other did not look fanciful.
Shearer’s paltry record in European competition does not relate to the worth of a brilliant centre forward, but his return from a two-game suspension brought a renewed sense of vigour. His goals were a selection box of his best moments; a thunderous, diving header, simple tap-in and penalty that threatened permanent damage to the net.
For each, Shearer had reason to praise the contribution of his team-mates; in order, an incisive cross from Gary Speed, a brisk exchange of passes with Shola Ameobi, who snaked around two Leverkusen defenders and crossed towards his partner, and a wriggling dribble from Kieron Dyer, who was promptly brought down by Thomas Kleine.
Complications were sporadic, the darting runs of Jan Simak and the penalty awarded for Shay Given’s foul on Franca, another hapless Brazilian. Oliver Neuville struck his kick proficiently, but the Ireland goalkeeper guessed correctly, dived early and made a handsome save.
Hörster had announced, rather grandly, after presiding over his debut Bundesliga success last weekend, that Leverkusen “are back”, but his sentence should have finished with the words: “to square one”. Certainly, there was none of the nuance and skill that had propelled them to the final last season.
The 35 Stockport County supporters who had driven up to offer their vocal backing to Hörster’s side must have been gravely disappointed, because they witnessed a display that would have disgraced Edgeley Park. This team were actually stronger than the one Newcastle had faced at the BayArena eight days earlier, but their impact was laughable.
As befitting a club of growing maturity, Newcastle reined in their attacking urges in the second half. There was a vicious free kick from Laurent Robert and a dragged shot from Ameobi, who was to underscore his own ballooning potential with another dribble into the corner of the 18-yard box and an acute pass, from which Shearer actually contrived to miss.
That produced a sly grin within the manager’s dugout, which froze briefly when Marko Babic, the Leverkusen substitute, latched on to a precise lob from Yildiray Bastürk in the 75th minute and lifted a shot over Given, and Radoslav Kaluzny struck the crossbar with a header shortly afterwards. The smile soon returned, though; there is much to smile about at Newcastle.
NEWCASTLE UNITED (4-4-2): S Given — A Griffin, S Caldwell, T Bramble, O Bernard — B Kerr (sub: H Viana, 83min), K Dyer (sub: N Solano, 70), G Speed, L Robert — F Ameobi, A Shearer (sub: L LuaLua, 81). Substitutes not used: S Harper, A O’Brien, C Cort, A Hughes.
BAYER LEVERKUSEN (4-2-3-1): H-J Butt — C Preuss, T Kleine, Cris (sub: B Zivkovic, 29), D Placente — C Ramelow (sub: M Babic, 46), R Kaluzny — O Neuville (sub: T Brdaric, 62), Y Bastürk, J Simak — Franca. Substitutes not used: T Starke, B Zivkovic, P Ojigwe, J-I Callsen-Bracker, J Dogan. Booked: Brdaric.
Referee: C B Larsen (Denmark).
Group A
RESULTS: Nov 27: Bayer Leverkusen 1 Barcelona 2; Newcastle United 1 Inter Milan 4. Dec 10: Inter Milan 3 Bayer Leverkusen 2; Barcelona 3 Newcastle United 1. Feb 18: Barcelona 3 Inter Milan 0; Bayer Leverkusen 1 Newcastle United 3. Last night: Inter Milan 0 Barcelona 0; Newcastle United 3 Bayer Leverkusen 1.
FIXTURES: March 11: Barcelona v Bayer Leverkusen; Inter Milan v Newcastle United. March 19: Bayer Leverkusen v Inter Milan; Newcastle United v Barcelona.
Inter Milan halted Barcelona’s 11-match winning run in Europe in the San Siro, but a goalless draw was more than good enough to keep the Spanish club at the head of group A. It was a cautious match, with Barcelona happy to negotiate a draw, although the best chance of the match fell to Christian Vieri, the Inter striker, who headed wide just after half-time.
