Newcastle held on for a 1-1 draw in a nervy second half at West Bromwich Albion to boost their chances of Premier League survival.Defeat to arch-rivals Sunderland last weekend dragged Newcastle back into the scrap to avoid the drop into the Championship. It looked like it had taken its toll in the opening stages as the Magpies started slowly in the Spring sunshine. However, they suddenly burst into life on eight minutes when Papiss Cisse's deflected cross bemused Ben Foster and Yoan Gouffran was able to glance into the net from six yards. The goal seemed to fill the visitors with confidence as they went in search of a second and chances continued to come and go for Cisse as he failed to put the game beyond a West Brom side who had simply not got going. The best of which was a gift from the Baggies defence as they gave the ball to Cisse on the edge of the box but the Senegalese striker failed to find the corner when he had just Foster to beat. Those chances would later come back to haunt them as Steve Clarke made a change at the break and it almost paid immediate dividends with substitute Shane Long bringing a superb double save from Rob Elliot just seconds into the second period. Just after the hour mark West Brom finally managed to peg them back as Romelu Lukaku held off Steven Taylor and laid the ball into the path of Billy Jones who drilled it into the far corner. West Brom continued to press and Newcastle had both Rob Elliot and had their hosts' wastefulness in front of goal to thank as they withstood attack after attack to hold on for what could prove to be a vital point come the end of the season.
No comments:
Post a Comment