Newcastle United 4 NK Zeljeznicar 0 - match report

Newcastle United marched back into the Champions League as Kieron Dyer tore brave Zeljeznicar to shreds.

The England midfielder was the architect of what proved to be a comprehensive victory over the Bosnians, who came and rolled up their sleeves but ultimately could not live with the Magpies.

Dyer set the ball rolling with a beautifully judged lob over advancing keeper Kennan Hagasic and Lomana Lua Lua added a second before the break to give his side breathing space.

But once defender Sanel Jahic had been sent off for a desperate lunge at substitute Shola Ameobi, the visitors were broken, and Hugo Viana and, predictably, Alan Shearer completed the job.

Shearer later hit the bar and had a goal disallowed for offside, but by then, the task was well and truly done.

To their credit, the visitors never gave up, but Bobby Robson’s men were in no mood to concede any ground as they homed in on their cash windfall, and more importantly, the chance to rub shoulders with the European elite once again.

Robson’s applause for his side on the final whistle was a reflection of his delight with the way they had handled a potentially tricky tie against the Bosnian double winners, and if they had broken the back of a difficult task in Sarajevo 14 days earlier, they put on a little more of a show in their own back yard to cement their place in tomorrow afternoon’s Champions League draw in Monaco.

The 69-year-old, who is planning to attend the draw, sent his troops into battle warning them that the job was only half done, while opposite number Amar Osim had suggested his side had a less than one per cent chance of winning the tie.

One of those assertions was more accurate than the other as Zeljo overcame their early nerves to ensure that United never had it all their own way.

Indeed, had it not been for two saves from Shay Given to deny first, with the help of a little good fortune, Sanjin Radonja, and then, with superb reactions, Sead Seferovic, the half-time score could have been a little different.

Skipper Bulend Biscevic and Denis Karic ensured there was always a supply line to lone striker Jure Guvo and behind him, Radonja and Seferovic, and that kept the United back four on their toes.

However, with Dyer in blistering form for Robson’s side, it was only a matter of time before they unlocked a committed but, at times suspect, defence.

The breakthrough finally arrived with 23 minutes gone when Nolberto Solano exchanged passes with Shearer and slid the ball in to Dyer who, just as he had done in the first leg in Sarajevo, drew Hagasic before lifting the ball over him and into the unguarded net.

Newcastle’s second goal arrived eight minutes before the break courtesy of an equally impressive finish.

Speed laid the ball into the path of Lua Lua, who needed a touch of luck to evade Haris Alihodzic’s challenge, but the manner in which he dispatched it right-footed beyond Hagasic’s despairing dive owed nothing to fortune.

With an aggregate score at 3-0, the visitors could have been forgiven for throwing in the towel, but with men like Biscevic, who still has slivers of shrapnel in his knee from a war-time grenade, on the field, that was never going to happen.

Zeljo came out gamely after the break in a vain attempt to force their way back into the tie, having replaced Jure Guvo with Mirzet Alagic and pushed Seferovic up alongside Radonja in attack.

But after a brief, if effective flurry, Newcastle assumed control once again.

Hagasic pulled off a fine save to deny Shearer from distance of 58 minutes, and the striker’s luck was out again two minutes later when he beat the keeper hands down but saw his piledrive come back off the post.

Viana drilled a 67th-minute shot into Hagasic’s chest but then, after Jahic had received his marching orders for a trip on Ameobi, went one better with 74 minutes gone when he barely broke stride as he ran on to Dyer’s inch-perfect pass and blasted left-footed into the top corner.

Not to be outdone, Shearer decided to get in on the act with 10 minutes remaining, beating the offside trap to reach another Dyer pass and fire past Hagasic despite the keeper getting a hand to the ball.

The United skipper later hit the bar and had another goal ruled out for offside as Zeljo finally wilted, but the party had already started in earnest with the black and white faithful knowing that the big nights they enjoyed on Tyneside five years are back again.