This match is currently live on GOLTV. We've already had a number of good attacks in the first 4 minutes. We've started with Shearer, Kluivert, Bellamy, and Robert all on the field together. I doubt this will turn out to be a 1-0 snooze-fest!
12 minutes gone, still scoreless. Not surprisingly, Newcastle have had the majority of the possession and attack.
halfway through the first half Newcastle have had a number of decent chances, but so far nothing has gone in
2-0 to the Toon, Shearer and Bellamy scoring in either half. I only saw the last 30 minutes on TV, but what I did see vindicated my decision not to take half a day off work and travel 550 miles to watch the game. It looked like a very easy win, with an attitude from both teams approaching that of a pre-season friendly played on valium. As I understand it (i.e. that results between teams take priority over goal difference), if Sporting beat Panionios this evening then we have already qualified for the next round.
Well that was 4-1 to Sporting (with Viana scoring one for Sporting) so yay..? I'm more concerned we don't get stuck in second and paired with some huge team dropping from the CL.
In fact, my assumption was incorrect. The grouping places are decided on old fashioned goal difference if points are level. Para 4.06 of the UEFA Cup regulations covers this. http://www.uefa.com/newsfiles/19070.pdf
Which is entirely fair. You can't use head-to-head to decide a tie when one of the teams had to play at the home of the other. By the way, sorry for the abrupt end to the PBP. I had intended to share more, but I got busy watching the match and taking out the garbage, etc. Newcastle pretty much could do anything they wanted all night long. They played as hard as they needed to and lets leave it at that. Don't get me wrong, we looked good and all, but we were clearly aware of the quality of the opponent and how many goals it would take to get the full 3 points. Whats the point after you're up 2-0 and the 3 points are in the bag? We came close on a number of occasions, but it was clear to every single person watching that it just wasn't that important to score a ton of goals.