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Newcastle 4 Celtic 1
By Joe
July 26 2007
A brace from outcast stiker Albert Luque and goals from Obafemi Martins and James Milner ensured that Newcastles first home game under Big Sam was a happy occasion. Transfer rumour subject Kieron Dyer was left out of the squad and Newcastle were without strike trio Owen, Viduka and Ameobi.

 Obafemi Martins opened the scoring on 11 minutes with a low drive after Nobby Solano found him unmarked in the box.

 Luque put his first chance away 20 minutes later after latching onto a James Milner cross. He bagged his second just before half time side footing a Solano cross into the back of the net and putting Newcastle firmly in the driving seat.

Scott Brown headed past Given just after the 70 minute mark and it seemed like Celtic were ready to mount a comeback. However Newcastle held on firmly and James Milner killed the game off in the dying seconds with a low drive. 

It was a game that had everything goals,crunching tackles, pitch invasions even Steve Harper in a cameo appearance up front. Unfortunately it was accompanied by a part of the game Newcastle fans are more than familar with.

You guessed it more injuries, Nicky Butt was forced to leave the field on 75 minutes and with no outfield players left Steve Harper was forced to take off his gloves and throw down the gauntlet in an unfamiliar role up front.

Then with 3 minutes left to play the injury curse struck again and Steven Taylor was forced off with an ankle injury.  

The injuries took the shine off what was an otherwise encouraging night with Newcastle dominating greatly in the first half. Things faltered slightly in the second period and Newcastle seemed to be holding the deep line that Toon fans saw so many times last season.

However they defended valiantly and recorded an emphatic win against the Scottish Champions which is an amicable achievement whatever the circumstances.

With more signings apparently to come and plenty still to learn about players we have at present maybe this is a season to be optimistic about. 

NUFC:Shay Given,Stephen Carr,Paul Huntington,David Rozehnal,Peter Ramage,James Milner,Geremi,Nicky Butt,Nobby Solano,Obafemi Martins, Albert Luque

Subs:Steve Harper,Tim Krul,Matty Pattison,Charles N'Zogbia,Andy Carroll,Steven Taylor,David Edgar,James Troisi   

Celtic:Artur Boric,Lee Naylor,Maciej Zurawski,Scott Brown,Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink,Massimo Donati,John Kennedy,Stephen Mcmanus,Paul Caddis,Aiden McGeady

Subs:Bobo Balde,Kenny Miller,Derek Riordan,Thomas Gravesen,Steven Pressley,Jiri Jarosik,Chris Killen,Scott Mcdonald,Gary Irvine 

Man of the Match: Geremi

Referee: Mark Halsey

Attendance: 30,225 

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