The one thing I have been lacking was a goal and it was a relief to get off the mark.”The club president [Florentino Perez] came into the dressing-room at the end of the game, shook my hand and said ‘let that be the first of many’.”The England coach, Sven Goran Eriksson, kept faith in Owen when there were calls to drop him for the World Cup qualifier with Wales – and the Swede was not surprised when his main striker finally got on the scoresheet for Madrid.Eriksson backed Owen to score for his new team, given the attitude the centre-forward had shown in training with England “It was very good to see him play and score,” said Eriksson “It was an absolutely typical goal for him to score. But the England striker responded with a winner while captaining his country in Azerbaijan last week and followed it up last night when he slid in to get on the end of Ronaldo’s cross after 35 minutes.Owen said scoring his first goal for the club had taken a weight off his shoulders “It settled me right down,” he said “I have been waiting for that moment since I came here. Michael Owen’s first goal for Real Madrid helped him hit back at his critics – but those with faith in the striker see it as the start of a new era.
The 24-year-old scored the winner for the Spanish side in their Champions’ League Group B game against Dynamo Kiev on Tuesday night – his first goal since an £8m move to the Bernabeu in August.Form and fitness have troubled Owen since leaving Anfield and his first-team opportunities seemed limited under the new coach, Mariano Garcia Remon. “We’ve got to be positive and we’ve just got to get on with it really,” Benjamin said “That’s what we’re doing. The lads are all confident and I still think we’ve got a good chance of going up.”. The governing body’s compliance department, after considering the case of the England captain’s deliberate yellow card, decided there was “insufficient evidence to pursue a disciplinary charge”.
Instead Beckham was merely “reminded of his responsibilities and the rules of conduct he is expected to adhere to both as an England player and as captain.”At first sight this seems a mind-boggling verdict because Beckham had admitted the offence in a newspaper interview. Chris Makin’s own-goal earned Coventry a 1-1 draw at the weekend and Matt Heath headed past Kevin Pressman – into his own net – in the last minute as the Foxes drew 2-2 with high-flying Ipswich on Tuesday night.Bassett has not hidden his interest in the permanent position, having served as director of football at the Walkers Stadium for the last three years, following a brief spell in charge during the 2001-2002 season.John Gregory and Stuart Pearce have also applied and the Leicester chairman, Jim McCahill, has revealed that the club have received several other applications, but are not planning to replace Adams by a specific deadline.Bassett said: “We’ve got Stoke coming up and I’m looking forward to that game I will be in charge.
The Leicester caretaker manager, Dave Bassett, expects to be in charge for his side’s home game against Stoke at the weekend.
Having taken over from Micky Adams, who resigned last week, Bassett has had to settle for two points from two matches. Substitutes not used: Harper (gk), Hughes, Bramble, Ameobi, Taylor, Brittain.Referee: R Rosetti (Italy).. Substitutes not used: Sotiriou (gk), Meszaros, Exouzidis, Mitrou, Mantzios.Newcastle United (4-4-2): Given; Carr, O’Brien, Elliott, Bernard; Milner (Ambrose 67), Bowyer, Jenas, Robert; Bellamy, Shearer. Newcastle’s players celebrated but had the grace to be subdued at the final whistle.Panionios (3-5-2): Colceag; Vlcek, Giannopoulos, Makos; Dodd, Zimonjic (Goundoulakis 69), Domoraud, Tziolis, Spiropoulos; Parodi (Lagonikakis 75), Breska. With three minutes to go he drew a foul from Euripidis-Grigorios Makos inside the area Shearer’s penalty was unerring. Seconds later the midfielder was fortunate to escape further censure – and a dismissal – when he followed through with a tackle to catch Alexandros Tziolis in the face.Robert then fed Bellamy but his shot was smothered while Colceag tipped over Shearer’s header The chances mounted and Robert was again the provider.
His free-kick found substitute Shola Ameobi but his header bounced into the turf and wide But Ameobi’s introduction did make a difference. He steadied himself but sliced his shot over.Straight after the break, Robert’s cross reached Shearer but his header was weak and easily fielded. A cross by Sasa Zimonjic reached Mario Breska and his goalbound header was palmed away by the goalkeeper. Indeed, Newcastle appeared vulnerable to crosses and unable to find any kind of fluency in midfield. Lee Bowyer, in particular, was wayward and the frustrations spilled with a booking for Stephen Carr and some reckless challenges. Even the most ordinary of ball into the area induced a collective paralysis.It all provided unexpected encouragement for Panionios, who reached the quarter-finals of the now defunct Cup Winners’ Cup five years ago under Ronnie Whelan – with Mark Robins in the side – but have done little ever since, or before, to have an impact on this stage.On half-time, Jermaine Jenas should have calmed Newcastle’s frustrations after collecting Colceag’s poor punch.
Ticket sales would have been slow.Newcastle had the pre-match fillip of an apology from Craig Bellamy for his reaction to being substituted at the weekend. Souness accepted Bellamy’s contrition but there was a marker laid down. “I want him at the club but it has to be on my terms,” he said.In any case, Souness had little choice but to use Bellamy last night. Thankfully for Newcastle’s fans, under the competition’s new, elongated format, there will be no return leg for this fixture.
