Source: Daily_Mail
Newcastle 0 Portsmouth 0: Owen bungles as Toon are left in drop zone
He wrote the script, he picked the team, he shook hands with the foul-mouthed rabble-rousing opera singer - but even Alan Shearer couldn't score for this Newcastle United team.
And after watching his misfiring strikers fail to achieve a vital home win, Shearer has still to pick up a victory in four games, during which Newcastle have scored only one goal - and that was by a youngster from Gateshead.
Big miss: Michael Owen displays his dejection after wasting opportunity to secure a crucial three points for Newcastle.
The interim manager handed in a brave team-sheet yesterday evening, with three world-renowned strikers, a feisty midfield and even the much-maligned £10million centre half who is at the root of so much that has been wrong with Newcastle this season.
And he stood by Michael Owen, still convinced that when the chances come his old pal's way he will bury them. But when the chance came, the only notable one of the night, Owen blew it. He may just have condemned Newcastle to the Championship in the process, particularly as they have only two home games remaining.
Newcastle 0 Portsmouth 0: All the action as it unfolded
It was a simple opportunity, the kind of one-on-one which Owen has buried countless times over his brilliant career. With Fabio Capello's assistant Franco Baldini again watching in the stands, it was a miss which has implications for Owen's slim hope of an England return.
The Newcastle captain had been picked for a deeper role, slotting in behind Mark Viduka and Obafemi Martins in the kind of brave system which worked so well for Kevin Keegan in his rescue act a year ago.
Shear hell: Newcastle boss Alan Shearer goes through the full range of emotions as his side struggle to find a way past Portsmouth.
So the chances were always going to be rare. It was the 63rd minute of a difficult night for Newcastle when Viduka tried to power through Sol Campbell and Sylvain Distin. It was the exhausted Viduka's last act before Andy Carroll was sent on in his place, and it was a fortunate ricochet which put Owen through with only David James to beat.
Owen was so desperate to reach the ball that he virtually brushed off Martins to get there but he could only manage a weak finish across the slippery turf which crashed into James's legs. Shearer could hardly believe his eyes.
That it was Newcastle's best chance on a sorry night says so much about the side Shearer has inherited. No matter who he selects, they are not good enough, do not create enough. Viduka's one chance was a glancing header from Habib Beye's cross which James barely bothered to acknowledge.
The manager also turned in sheer agony to the crowd behind him when Martins wasted the best chance of the first half, blazing high over the bar from close range when Glen Johnson and Campbell lost a Beye cross in the persistent rain.
It was only when Newcastle had all too predictably lost Jose Enrique to injury that the chances finally started to come their way.
His replacement Danny Guthrie hit a low shot which Viduka was again unable to turn towards goal and then Alan Smith, still without a
Newcastle goal in two years, unleashed a well-struck half-volley which just cleared the bar. James then made a smart save to keep out a teasing effort from Damien Duff.
Shearer and his assistant Iain Dowie also made desperate pleas to referee Mike Riley to award a penalty after a firm shot by Smith struck Hermann Hreidarsson's arm.
A minute after the break, Martins played a neat ball in to the area to Owen, whose backheel found Viduka just yards from goal but James comfortably grabbed the ball on the goal-line.
It was far from one-way traffic and if Portsmouth had shown more ambition in the Newcastle half, they could have silenced St James' Park, which had been raised to fever pitch before the game.
The moment the English National Opera's principal bass Graeme Danby grabbed the microphone for a rendition of the Geordie anthem Blaydon Races, the roof came off. Sadly for Shearer, he could not galvanise the players.
By the end, St James' was almost silent. But then Pompey had threatened to ruin the night completely on several occasions, with Johnson twice firing across Steve Harper's goal before Richard Hughes hit a post.
Sean Davis and Nadir Belhadj also produced smart saves from Harper and Pompey were denied a penalty when Peter Crouch fell under Fabrizio Coloccini's challenge.
With Newcastle running out of games, Shearer was prepared to gamble. Arguably the bravest decision was to recall Coloccini, the error-prone £10million defender who was given the task of manmarking Crouch, just the kind of job which has proved beyond his capabilities throughout the season.
Smith was picked for only his second start of the season, while Shearer dropped Joe Kinnear's two January cash signings Kevin Nolan and Ryan Taylor, who didn't even make the bench.
Jonas Gutierrez eventually appeared in the second half and produced a delightful through ball to create an opening for Martins, although he was overpowered easily by Distin before managing a shot.
