Brave Magpies bow out to Benfica

Newcastle 1 Benfica 1

It was always going to be an uphill battle for the north-east club, who lost 3-1 in the first leg in Lisbon, but they gave themselves hope when Papiss Cisse, had already seen two goals disallowed , scored a 71st-minute header, his fifth goal in seven games.

The Geordies were then pushing for another goal — which would have seen them into the semi-final — and the Newcastle bench were pleading in vain for a 75th-minute penalty after Cisse and Artur came together inside the box — but Croatian referee Ivan Bebek was unmoved.

Eduardo Salvio then struck deep into injury-time to send the Portuguese side through.

Ameobi admitted the damage had been done in the first leg.

“Two goals is a lot to come back but tonight we gave it a right good go. We knew with our fans we would have a good chance,” he said.

“That is the luck of the draw I guess but we gave it everything we got but two goals was a bridge too far.”

Neither did Ameobi agree Newcastle were not attacking enough in the early stages of the game.

He said: “We knew they were a good side, we didn’t want to concede early on.

“We had to be cautious but we had to take it to them.

“We made the substitutions and went for it but got caught with a sucker punch there. Credit has to go to the lads — getting to the quarter finals of a big competition is something special.”

Newcastle, who were applauded from the pitch by a crowd of 52,157, will now turn their attention to Sunday’s derby clash with Sunderland.

Benfica, who started their European campaign in the Champions League, still have not lost in all competitions since October, although they came mightily close to doing so on Tyneside, and they will now head into the last four with ambitions of lifting the trophy.

Magpies manager Alan Pardew acknowledged the Portuguese are a formidable outfit.

“They are a good side — you can’t let them get a lead against you..

“In the first half we kept it tight and looked to nick a goal — and almost did before half-time.

“We had two or three big chances at 1-0 but you can’t ask for anything more from the crowd, the players.

“You’ve got to respect the opposition — technically they are a superb side.

“I am so proud of the performance — we couldn’t have done any more.

“We’ve got some very good players. When we get them all back we’ve got a very good side.”

NEWCASTLE UNITED: Krul, Simpson, Williamson, Yanga-M’Biwa, Haidara (Marveaux 67), Cabaye, Sissoko, Anita (Ben Arfa 63), Gutierrez, Bigirimana (Shola Ameobi 45), Cisse.

RUBIN KAZAN: Artur, Luisao, Garay, Melgarejo, Ola John (Moreno 76), Gaitan, Matic,Almeida, Perez, Lima (Cardozo 72), E Salvio (Jardel 90).

Referee: Ivan Bebek (Croatia).