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Owen goal saves Newcastle
18/03/2008 07:36 - (SA)
London - Newcastle United drew a scrappy Premier League relegation clash 1-1 at Birmingham City on Monday leaving coach Kevin Keegan still without a win in eight league matches since returning to the club.
James McFadden put Birmingham ahead with a well taken goal
after muscling Abdoulaye Faye out of his way to latch on to a
long David Murphy cross before striking from close range after
33 minutes.
Michael Owen, denied by a great save from Maik Taylor after
50 minutes, equalised for Newcastle six minutes later when he
darted between two defenders to stab home the rebound after
Taylor had saved from Obafemi Martins.
"Overall I was pleased with the performance but we weren't really good enough in the first half," Keegan told Setanta Sports.
"It was much better in the second half though and we
probably just edged this match over the 90 minutes."
The draw lifted Newcastle one spot to 14th with 29 points
from 30 matches, while Birmingham rose from 17th to 16th taking
their tally to 27 points from 30 games.
Bolton Wanderers (25 points), Fulham (23) and Derby County
(10) occupy the bottom three slots.
Birmingham dominated much of the first half against a
Newcastle side looking devoid of confidence after four
successive defeats and 12 league matches without a win since
beating Fulham in mid-December.
Although the home side, with only one win in their previous
10 league matches, deservedly took the lead through the
impressive McFadden, they allowed Joey Barton, Nicky Butt and
Geremi to dominate in midfield after the break and a draw was a
fair result in the end.
- Reuters
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