Source: Northern_Echo
Swansea City 1 Newcastle United 1
Swansea City 1 Newcastle United 1 SWANSEA'S new home is called the Liberty Stadium and, on Saturday, the name proved only too fitting. On their first ever visit to the ground, Newcastle United got themselves out of jail. Despite being comprehensively outplayed for the opening 87 minutes, the Magpies claimed a barelymerited point when Andy Carroll clambered above his marker to power Leon Best's cross past Swans goalkeeper Dorus de Vries. The goal looked a potentially significant one at the time, as with West Brom taking on Reading in the fifth round of the FA Cup, it ensured Newcastle returned to the top of the Championship table after ceding their position four days earlier. And its importance was enhanced further two hours later as third-placed Nottingham Forest lost at Doncaster, extending the gap between the Magpies and the play-off places to a healthy five points. Having produced arguably their worst display of the campaign, Newcastle somehow managed to strengthen their position at the head of the promotion pack. With the Welsh rugby team producing last-gasp heroics of their own 40 miles along the coast, south Wales was clearly the place for dramatic denouements at the weekend. We weren't at our best, but because of the way we approached that last period, I thought we deserved something, said a relieved Newcastle boss, Chris Hughton. I thought you had to give credit to our players in the end because we pushed and became a little bit braver in the way we played. The last week has shown us something we've known all along it's a very tough division, and anybody who felt we were going to walk away with this division was certainly going to be wrong. It's a hard relentless season, with periods where it's game after game. You have to be able to ride the highs and lows, and you just hope that when you have your lows and dips in form, you can still get something from the games. Given that Swansea have only lost two of their 16 Championship home games this season, Hughton's desire to accentuate the positives on Saturday was understandable. But while Newcastle can look ahead to back-to-back home matches with Coventry and Preston and anticipate a marked improvement, it would still be wrong to regard this week's performances at Derby and Swansea as nothing more than an unavoidable blip. The Magpies were poor at Pride Park, but their display four days later was unquestionably worse, and a run of seven away games without a win in all competitions hints at the existence of a deep-rooted problem that could yet have a seriously detrimental impact on the club's promotion crusade. The majority of Saturday's game was as one-sided as they come, and had Swansea boasted a centre-forward worthy of the name, they would have been well out of sight by the time Newcastle roused themselves to snatch an equaliser. Had Carroll been playing in white instead of yellow, things might certainly have been different. As it was instead, Paulo Sousa's side wove a string of pretty patterns with their slick, passing style, but repeatedly offered little or nothing in terms of a serious attacking threat. Think Arsenal whenever they come up against Chelsea or Manchester United, just with marginally less plaintive moaning from the manager. Swansea dominated possession during the opening hour, but Steve Harper had not been forced to make a single save of note before the deadlock was unexpectedly broken in the 56th minute. David Cotterill received Darren Pratley's diagonal ball on the left, and after cutting inside to the edge of the area, the Welshman on loan from Sheffield United curled a deft low finish into the bottom right-hand corner. The goal raised questions about Swansea's previous unwillingness to chance their arm from distance, but at least the hosts had carved out a series of openings that might have resulted in a shot at goal. Newcastle were utterly devoid of attacking inspiration, with a chronic lack of midfield creativity, a problem that has been apparent to a greater or lesser extent all season, hampering their attempts to unlock a well-drilled Swans defence. Kevin Nolan was dreadfully out of sorts at the heart of midfield, repeatedly giving up possession under little or no pressure, and with Jonas Gutierrez back on Tyneside nursing a muscular strain, neither Danny Guthrie nor Wayne Routledge threatened to set up anything from the flanks. As a result, Newcastle were on the back foot throughout, and while Hughton bought Routledge and Best last month in an attempt to inject some pace into the Newcastle ranks, much of the Magpies' attacking, especially away from home, continues to be blunt and cumbersome. In fairness to Hughton, things did improve once Best was introduced from the bench with 25 minutes left, and it was no coincidence that the replacement provided his side's first telling cross late on. Carroll muscled his way onto the end of it, and after a week that has seen the 21- year-old charged with assault following an alleged incident in a Newcastle nightclub, his willingness to continue plugging away was admirable. I never had to check that his head was in the right place, said Hughton. Throughout everything that's gone on, we've seen no difference in him at all. He's too big for me to put my arm around him anyway! With all young players, you speak to them about their game and the aspects of their game where they can improve. We've always said that Andy has to add goals to his game, but we forget that he's still developing. He's a big lad, and he's someone who's still maturing into his frame. Sousa felt that Carroll should not have been on the pitch to score the leveller following an 82nd-minute altercation with Garry Monk that appeared to involve the use of an arm. The incident drew a yellow card from referee Andy Woolmer, but Sousa felt it should have been red, a view that was disputed by Hughton. I thought it was a ball Andy went to compete for, said the Newcastle boss. That was my impression of it, that it most certainly wasn't a red card. Either way, it certainly proved crucial, as Carroll's third goal in the last three matches enabled the Magpies to emerge from a difficult week relatively unscathed. Any team that gets promotion from this division whoever it is will have gone through a season of highs and lows, added Hughton. We've had bad days and bad periods before. We just have to make sure we lift the bar again. Match facts Goals: 1-0: Cotterill (56, curled low 18-yard strike into bottom right-hand corner) 1-1: Carroll (87, climbed above Rangel to head home Best's right-wing cross) Bookings: Coloccini (33, foul); Orlandi (58, foul); Carroll (82, foul) Referee: Andy Woolmer (Northampton) Resisted pressure to send Carroll off following his clash with Monk 7 Attendance: 15,188 Entertainment: SWANSEA CITY (4-5-1): De Vries 6; Tate 5, Monk 6, Williams 7, Bessone 5 (Rangel, 7mins 6); Dyer 7 (Butler 80mins), Allen 6, PRATLEY 8, Orlandi 7, Cotterill 7; Kuqi 6 (Pintado 74mins). Subs (not used): Cornell (gk), Gower, Richards, Trundle NEWCASTLE UNITED (4-4-2): 5 Harper: Beaten from distance for the goal and didn't have a lot else to do in the game; 5 Simpson: Failed to get close enough to Cotterill when he scored and never looked comfortable 6 COLOCCINI: Slotted in well on his return from injury and marked the muscular Kuqi out of the game 6 Hall: Justified his inclusion ahead of Williamson with a number of well-timed tackles 6 Van Aanholt: Continues to impress but will return to Chelsea in three games time following Ashley Cole's injury; 5 Routledge: Struggled to get into the game and failed to deliver a really telling cross 4 Smith: Couldn't match the pace of Swansea's passing and was much less effective than usual 4 Nolan: Repeatedly conceded possession in a laboured display that was arguably his worst of the season 5 Guthrie: Constantly cut inside and looked like a fish out of water as Gutierrez's replacement; 6 Carroll: Quiet for large periods, but burst into life when it counted with a great late header 4 Lovenkrands: Blew his chance to claim a regular spot after he was promoted to the starting line-up Subs: BEST (for Lovenkrands, 66mins): His pace and energy made a difference, and his cross for Carroll was excellent 7 (not used): Krul (gk), Kadar, Williamson, R Taylor, Pancrate, Ranger MAN OF THE MATCH DARREN Pratley The Swans midfielder linked midfield and attack with a combination of energy and vision.