Shearer seals Toon victory

Newcastle 1 Sporting Lisbon 0

Alan Shearer’s 19th goal of the season gave Newcastle a precious advantage over Sporting Lisbon in their UEFA Cup quarter-final first leg clash.

The 34-year-old powered home a header from a 37th-minute Laurent Robert free-kick to claim his 192nd goal for the club in a tight encounter.

Newcastle midfielder Kieron Dyer kept his place in the starting line-up for tonight’s UEFA Cup quarter-final, first leg clash with Sporting Lisbon.

The 26-year-old was retained after receiving the backing of his club over Saturday’s brawl with team-mate Lee Bowyer, who was included only among the substitutes.

Manager Graeme Souness made three changes to the side which lost 3-0 to Aston Villa as Steven Taylor, who was also sent off, replaced the ineligible Jean-Alain Boumsong, while Amdy Faye and Shola Ameobi came in for Bowyer and Nicky Butt.

Sporting boss Jose Peseiro kept faith with 10 of the men who started Saturday’s 4-0 win at Boavista with only on-loan Magpie Hugo Viana making way for Carlos Martins.

The game kicked off after the briefest moment's silence to mark the death of Pope John Paul II and with the visitors seemingly contesting the result of the pre-match toss up, although it was they who were quicker into their stride.

Newcastle were almost handed a third-minute opening when Liedson’s wayward pass was blocked by Faye, but after Alan Shearer had held the ball up well, Jermaine Jenas passed up the opportunity to play Laurent Robert in.

Dyer exploded into space down the right seconds later and headed towards the penalty area, but his cross was cut out by Roberto Beto.

It was his persistence however which gave Ameobi a chance to challenge Ricardo in a 50-50 on six minutes which left the ’keeper writhing in agony.

The home crowd were not impressed with the lengthy period of treatment Ricardo required, nor Liedson’s reaction when he was caught by Taylor after play restarted.

They were on their feet with 11 minutes gone when Ameobi collected Shearer’s flick-on and curled a shot at the ‘keeper on the turn.

Sporting were playing with customary confidence on the ball with Liedson looking extremely dangerous.

He tested Shay Given with a dipping 17th-minute effort from distance which the Irishman could not hold.

The visitors’ build-up play after the break was slick, whilst Newcastle were labouring in midfield.

They fared rather better when they played the ball in early and allowed Shearer to challenge Beto in the air.

Dyer’s sporadic involvement from the right proved productive at times, although he was warned by Russian referee Yuri Baskakov for going down a little too easily under Anderson Polga’s 22nd-minute challenge after bursting into the box.

Sporting continued to threaten on the break with midfielder Martins particularly influential, but Andy O’Brien, who endured a nightmare at the weekend, Taylor, Aaron Hughes and Stephen Carr were holding it together well at the back.

Newcastle threatened on 31 minutes when O’Brien’s intelligent chip over the top allowed Shearer to force Polga to concede a corner.

Robert sent the ball curling and dipping towards the near post and it crashed into the upright, but ran to safety.

But it was the Frenchman who became the central figure as half-time approached.

His 34th-minute free-kick was headed home by Shearer only for Baskakov to order a re-take which came to nothing, but the same combination did the trick on 37 minutes.

Robert took charge after Fabio Rochemback had felled Ameobi and curled the ball into the box, where Shearer met it unchallenged to power a header past Ricardo for his 19th goal of the season.

In the meantime, Liedson and Aaron Hughes had both been booked for fouls which will cost them their places in the second leg.

Peseiro’s side turned the screw as time ran down and Rui Jorge curled a shot just wide in injury time after an error by Dyer.

Newcastle were forced into a change at the break when Given failed to return because of a hip injury and Steve Harper took his place in goal.

Sporting continued where they had left off, pinning the Magpies back inside their own half, but again O’Brien and Taylor proved stubborn.

And as the visitors pushed forward in the hunt for an away goal, Robert found space down the left on 48 minutes to whip in a cross which Ricardo acrobatically punched away.

Dyer broke at pace from his own half two minutes later and tried to thread the ball through the Sporting defence before running into Beto, but Baskakov ordered him to get to his feet as he appealed in vain for a free-kick.

Harper had his first real scare on 55 minutes when, after a patient build-up, Liedson and Sa Pinto collided with each other inside the Newcastle penalty area and the ball ran to Martins, who sent a shot just wide of the `keeper's right post.

Souness made his second change two minutes later when he withdrew the clearly unhappy Robert in favour of James Milner with the Frenchman heading straight down the tunnel.

However, his plans were thrown into turmoil just after the hour when Dyer pulled up injured and following frantic activity on the bench, was replaced on 63 minutes by, of all people, Bowyer.

The newcomer was cheered on to the pitch after the pair exchanged the customary pleasantries, but there was hard work still to be done and Harper earned his corn with a fine 62nd-minute save from Joao Moutinho’s curling shot.

Bowyer blotted his copybook once more when he was booked for a foul on Sa Pinto.

Shearer then testing Ricardo with a low shot after being picked out by James Milner cross.

The ex-Leeds youngster might have scored himself nine minutes from time, but couldn’t keep his shot down after an intelligent pass from Taylor.

Ameobi did little better later on, and Newcastle held their nerve until the final whistle.

UEFA Cup Quarter-Final, First Leg Results:

CSKA Moscow 4 Auxerre 0

Austria Vienna 1 Parma 1

Villareal 1 AZ Alkmaar 2.