Newcastle United manager http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Alan-c4244 Pardew praised his side after suffering a 2-1 league cup defeat at Old Trafford against Manchester United last night.
Newcastle travelled to Manchester to face the former English and European champions in the Capital One Cup. Both teams were engaged in an even first half, where United dominated possession and Newcastle dominated on the counter attack.
Alan Pardew welcomed back first team players Cheick Tiote and captain Fabricio Coloccini, who had been out of contention since suffering their respective injuries.
Tiote had strained his calf muscle in Newcastle’s Premier League opener against Tottenham, and had been out of the side since. Coloccini received his injury while on duty with the http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Argentina-c2841 national squad earlier this month.
Other players out of contention were http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Danny-c10193 Simpson, Ryan Taylor and goalkeeper Tim Krul. However, they were not fit enough to travel to Old Trafford and are expected back this weekend.
The Newcastle and Manchester United squads looked even on paper, with both teams fielding out reserve players and youngsters from their respective academies.
However, it was the hosts who took the lead through a driven shot by Brazilian midfielder http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Anderson-c5565. Newcastle soon diminished after that, and it was all United. The hosts kept the ball well and looked menacing on the counter attack.
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Tom-c35214 Cleverely extended the lead in the second half after the midfielder made up for a chance missed earlier. The hosts looked comfortable and at ease. However, Pardew’s double substitution paid off as he brought on striker Papiss Demba Cisse and right-back
Shane Ferguson.
The youngster provided a menacing cross which was headed in by Cisse as he finally scored his first goal of the season. The game came to life, but Newcastle were unable to get another goal, despite coming close when Cisse executed an overhead kick that hit
the crossbar.
Pardew was disappointed with the result, and said that his side were as good as United on the day.
“I thought we played terrific because I thought we were every bit as good as Manchester United, for an away team.”
“We left ourselves open at times when we were chasing. It was a really good game. We were pressing. We knew if we could get Papiss on and if he could get a chance he’d score. We had him on sideline at 1-0.”
“I’m pleased for the players but disappointed for the club because I thought we deserved more.”
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