Fabricio Coloccini saw red during a stormy pre-season friendly in Portugal tonight. The Argentine skipper was playing his first game of the summer after returning to the club last week. But the red card could not prevent the Magpies fighting back and earning a draw as Shola Ameobi notched for the tourists against Pacos de Ferreira. United created a chance after two minutes when Yohan Cabaye’s free-kick wasn’t cleared and it eventually fell for Shola Ameobi who fired the ball high over the bar. The Magpies then had to absorb a spell of pressure from the home side as the Yellow Boys penned United in their own half. But Manuel Jose’s dangerous left wing cross that bounced just wide of the far post was the closer they came to troubling Rob Elliot in the first 10 minutes. The home side though grabbed the lead five minutes later though. A left wing cross from Jaime Poulson wasn’t dealt with by United and Caetano made mistake as he fired the ball home inside the box at the back post. United enjoyed a glimpse of goal on 20 minutes when Ben Arfa motored down the left hand channel but as he neared the goal his powerful effort sailed over the bar. In a lively contest Poulson took out Cabaye before the half hour mark but Steven Taylor levelled up matters on that score with a crunching tackle on Caetano. Then Debuchy clashed with Helder with the French full-back having to be hauled away from the Pacos man. The flare-up infuriated the United bench and home fans stormed towards the dugout to confront both John Carver and Andy Woodman before one fan was dragged away by his missus! United almost netted on 32 minutes when Sammy Ameobi’s cross found Shola Ameobi at the back post but his header bounced wide. Yet the unsavoury feel to the “friendly” continued when Anunciacao was booked for taking out Sammy Ameobi 11 minutes before the break. Moments later United won a corner and Yohan Cabaye’s swirling corner was headed straight at keeper Antonio Filipe. But the game continued to be a feisty affair. Caetano and Coloccini squared up on the edge of the box and with both raising their hands, ref Jorge Sousa issued red cards to make the game a 10-a-side contest on 37 minutes. Coloccini’s hair was pulled by Caetano before he grabbed the player by the throat. There was only going to be one outcome really. The half-time whistle was probably music to the ears of both managers as they looked to settle down their teams. United made three changes at half-time with Jonas, Davide Santon and Yoan Gouffran replacing Cabaye, Ben Arfa and Sammy Ameobi. Newcastle looked a more settled team in the second half and slowly applied the pressure with Shola Ameobi levelling the game up just after the hour mark. His 61st minute strike saw the big striker pick up a pass from Gouffran before lashing the ball home with his left foot. It was a strike that the Magpies fully deserved with Ameobi once again proving to be a handful for European opposition with Newcastle’s all-time second highest scorer in UEFA competitions grabbing his second in as many friendly games here in Portugal. United continued to build up some pressure down the left and Santon’s left wing cross only just evaded Gouffran before Debuchy smashed the ball over the with 18 minutes to go. There were just eight minutes left on the clock when Debuchy’s teasing cross found sub Harid Vuckic but his bullet header cracked the post. Newcastle finished the stronger of the two sides on the night and Pardew will be happy with the level of performance. United had to rely on a last gasp – on the line clearance from Vuckic – in the final moments of the game after Fernando Neto looked to have won it for the hosts. /Loraine
Posted on: Wed, 24 Jul 2013 07:35:42 +0000
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