Griffin goal keeps Magpies dream alive

Newcastle 1 Juventus 0

Not since Barca left Tyneside on the wrong end of a 3-2 scoreline five years ago had the black and white faithful had so much to celebrate as Bobby Robson’s men snatched a must-win game to keep their dreams alive.

Victory came courtesy of full-back Andy Griffin’s 62-minute shot, which was turned into his own net by Juventus keeper Gianluigi Buffon.

It was hard luck on the 24-year-old, who produced fine saves to deny Nolberto Solano twice as well as Alan Shearer, but it was scarcely more than United deserved after a gutsy display.

A delighted Robson said: “We showed big resolve and big tenacity tonight. We fought for every ball on the ground and in the air and worked until the last second.

“We soldiered on and on and the 11 players played to their full potential,” he said.

“It would have been horrible if we’d not got anything. We’re a young side, we’ve some very good experienced players, but to beat Juventus proves how good a game we’ve had here tonight.”

Newcastle had to ride their luck as Pavel Nedved missed an open goal before the break and substitute Marcelo Zayaleta hit the bar seven minutes from time, but the roar which greeted referee Rune Pedersen’s final whistle sparked mass celebrations in the stands.

Robson’s side face an uphill task to make the second stage of the competition. They play Dynamo Kiev next week.

United went into the game knowing that anything less than a victory would effectively end their faint hopes of a place in the second round and make qualification for the UEFA Cup a slim possibility.

Juventus did not have things their own way for much of the half, they created several good openings and will have gone in at the break disappointed not to have been in front.

Di Vaio toe-poked a sixth-minute shot wide after racing away from Griffin and homing in on Steve Harper, making his first start since November 27 last year in place of Shay Given.

The Magpies keeper almost gifted Nedved the opening goal on 22 minutes when his casual pass towards Bramble was intercepted, but the Czech international shot wide, and Harper redeemed himself moments later by blocking Di Vaio.

Del Piero went high with a 25-yard free-kick nine minutes before the break, but was much closer in the 40th-minute with a left-foot snapshot which just cleared the bar.

Buoyed by their first-half showing, United set about winning the game after the break, and but for Buffon, they could have had the points wrapped up long before the whistle.

The keeper saved bravely at the neat post from Solano with 55 minutes gone, then produced a superb stop to keep out Shearer’s blistering drive on the hour.

However, Buffon proved the villain two minutes later when, after Robert had picked out Griffin’s intelligent run from a short free-kick, he scooped the ball into his own net. Buffon redeemed himself in breathtaking style on 65 minutes with another magnificent save, this time from Solano’s goal-bound piledriver, and clung to Robert’s dipping 35-yard free-kick 14 minutes from time.

Substitute Gianluca Zam brotta had a chance to level a minute later but shot high over, and it took a point-blank block from Harper to deny Del Piero an equaliser 11 minutes from time after substitute Marcelo Zayaleta’s mazy run.

The feeling that it was going to be Newcastle’s night grew on 83 minutes when Zayaleta again wormed his way through but crashed his shot against the bar.

Juve hammered away at the home side as time ran down, but the magpies held on.

NEWCASTLE: Harper, Griffin, O’Brien, Bramble, Hughes, Solano, Jenas, Speed, Robert (Viana 85), LuaLua (Ameobi 85), Shearer.

JUVENTUS: Buffon, Thuram, Ferrara, Iuliano, Birindelli, Camoranesi (Zambrotta 69), Tacchinardi, Davids (Conte 45), Nedved, Del Piero, Di Vaio (Zalayeta 57).