By Peter Donnelly
November 28 2002

Newcastle's first game of the UEFA Champions League 2nd Phase turned out to be a disaster, going down 1-0 within 60 seconds and having to play with 10 men from 6 minutes onwards, after Craig Bellamy was again sent off. Newcastle: Given , Dabizas , Griffin , Hughes (Caldwell S 86) , O'Brien , Dyer , Viana (Robert 46) , Solano , Speed , Bellamy , Shearer.

Nobby Solano came in for Jermaine Jenas before kick-off, being the only change to Newcastle's Old Traffard defeat.

However, the game was turned on it's head after only 6 minutes when United were a goal and a man down.

Morfeo scored for Inter after 60 seconds after sloppy defending. Then on the 6 minute mark the referee sent off Craig Bellamy for a "punch". (Or a "kick", believe what you want.)

While the reaction from Bellamy was silly I believe a red card was harsh, common sense should have provailed. Marco Matteratzi sparked it all off in the first place, when he pushed Bellamy in the chest for no reason at all. Bellamy reacted, doing exactly the same but 6 foot 2" Marco went down like he'd been shot. If he'd stood his ground I'm sure no action would have taken place.

Minutes after Inter's goal Nikos Dabizas missed a golden chance when he put his header wide from a Solano cross.

Solano himself hit a good free-kick later on, testing the goalkeepers' ability.

There was a killer blow on 35 minutes though, when Almeyda fired home a beatiful 25-yard shot, after Andy Griffin had cleared a corner.

And right on half time Hernan Crespo inflicted even more pain on 10-man United when more sloppy defending let in Morpeo down the right and he didn't fail to pick out Crespo in the box, who was had got away from his marker to cooly slot home.

The second half was much better though, with pride needing to be restored.

Laurent Robert came on for Hugo Viana, though that was no relection on Viana's display. Gary Speed had a brilaint game and put in a great shift.

It was Robert who inspired Newcastle to up the tempo, as we got about Inter a lot more.

We eventually pulled one back on 72 minutes when Laurent Robert got past two Inter defenders and then put through Solano who finished well.

However any chance of a late comeback was ruined when Alvero Recoba came on for Inter. His first touch was to curl a quality shot into the net, though the defending could have been better.

4-1 it finished but credit must go to the team in the second half, they battled excellently with 10 men against one of the best teams in Europe.

However, this still highlights the problems we hace at the back and they must be sorted asap.