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Newcastle United	1 - 4	Inter Milan
Half time:	0 - 3
Score Sheet:
(72) Solano		Morfeo (2) Almeyda (35) Crespo (45) Recoba (81)
	Teams
Given  Griffin  O'Brien  Dabizas  Hughes  Solano  Dyer  Speed  Viana  Bellamy  Shearer		Toldo Javier Zanetti Materazzi Cannavaro Pasquale Okan Emre Almeyda Morfeo Crespo Vieri
Substitutes:
(46) Robert for Viana  (85) S.Caldwell for Hughes		Cordoba for Materazzi (15) Dalmat for Okan (66) Recoba for Crespo (80)
Subs not used:
Harper Acuna Jenas LuaLua Ameobi		Fontana Di Biagio Gamarra Coco
Bookings:
None		Cannavaro Javier Zanetti Crespo Vieri
Sendings off:
Bellamy (6) - violent conduct		None
Referee: Stephane Bre (France). A policeman apparently, who seemed curiously uninterested in the antics of the Italian side. Bellamy was rightly red-carded for another ludicrous loss of temper. Marco Materazzi was far from an innocent victim as he goaded the Welshman into a reaction, but the punch to the ribs from the Newcastle man was as blatant as it was stupid.
Attendance: 50,108 - our highest ever home crowd in the Champions League and the largest European attendance at SJP since 442 more were present for the Pecsi Dozsa game in October 1970. The Toon hero tonight was Keith Dyson, who played in both the home and away legs of our last meeting with Inter, in the Fairs Cup.

2 mins: The sort of defending that cost us dear at Old Trafford saw us go behind after just 65 seconds, as a schoolboy lunge from Nicos Dabizas allowed Zanetti to scamper down the right. His cross eluded Crespo at the near post but Domenico Morfeo was at the far post to crash the opener into the Gallowgate goal. 0-1

35 mins: A shot from a corner was cleared off the line by Griffin, but the ball ultimately fell for Matias Almeyda to thump home the clearance over Shay Given from 22 yards. 0-2

45 mins: Another defensive lunge - this time from Aaron Hughes - left Okan free to run down the right wing and on this occasion his low cross found Hernan Crespo arriving at the near post to end our hopes in first-half injury time. 0-3

Half time: Newcastle 0 Inter Milan  3

72 mins: Substitute Laurent Robert's dribbling ball work playing in Nolbero Solano, who showed neat control before firing a left-foot shot past the onrushing Toldo. 1-3

81 mins: Recently-arrived replacement Alvaro Recoba cut inside from the right with his first touch and dispatched a curling shot with his second into the far corner over Given: a tremendous strike that gained deserved applause from a good number of home fans. 

However a large number of people just sloped off when Recoba made it 4-1. Ignorance quite frankly, and as for those who left the ground at half time, thanks for your money - hope you think it was well spent. 1-4

Full time:  Newcastle 1 Inter Milan 4

Sir Bob said:

"We got off to the most horrible, cruel start that is imaginable at this particular level.

"Again, we've conceded a goal in the first minute after the trials and tribulations of the last few days. But after we were reduced to 10 players, they responded magnificently. We matched them in the first half and second half, we were better than them actually.

"Anyone not at the match would think we've had a roasting but we haven't. I just think the team was magnificent. The lads have absolutely everything in terms of energy, in terms of commitment. They never let us down."

About Bellamy:

"It hasn't been a big lesson - the lesson is control yourself and don't get sent off. But everybody else stood their ground." 

"It's an internal matter which we will deal with in the appropriate fashion.

"I'm not here to give any huge propaganda about what will happen and what we'll do. You'll just have to leave it to the club to realise that it's a situation which we have to deal with, and we will.

"He was irresponsible and unprofessional and for that, the club and the team have suffered. That's the only two words that I will use, end of story. We will deal with it."

Bellamy himself said this: 

"At the moment, I'm very, very down, very disappointed. It's a big disappointment.

"But I deserved to go. I've got no excuse. The linesman and the referee saw it that way, so I had to go.

"I was a bit disappointed with Materazzi, but you expect that. I've let my team-mates down, I've let the manager down, I've let the fans down, but most of all, I've let myself down, and I'm feeling really low. I'm sorry for the lads."

Hector Cuper said:

"When a team wins, it makes everybody happy, but I believe you should keep calm. You shouldn't over-dramatise when you lose or over-celebrate when you win."

If this match was a film, it would have been "Gone in 60 Seconds". 

That was just about the time it took for Inter Milan to strike a decisive blow, pierce our defence and make a claim on the three points that we were never to challenge them for. 

The next decisive blow of course came from Materazzi, who made contact with Bellamy before sprawling across the turf when the Welshman replied with sneer, shove and trip.

His dismissal certainly had the home fans looking to the heavens in bewilderment, but it my gave us a ready-made excuse for the defeat. The record books will show that we played most of the game with one short, but that goal in the opening stages handed the initiative to the visitors, where it remained for the next 89 minutes.

At the risk of being shouted down though, I don't think we would have got back in this game with eleven against eleven. 

Inter always looked as if they had more to give if required, and eased away from us in the closing stages when Dalmat and Recoba appeared. This wasn't Charlton or Southampton or even Kiev - these lads had played before.

We by contrast gave it a good go but were always chasing things and looked vulnerable down the flanks. Bellamy wouldn't have done a great deal to help that though, after all he hadn't on Saturday in Manchester....

Perhaps if Solano's free kick had gone in then things would have been interesting, in the same way that his quarter-chance immediately after scoring would have set the pulses racing at 3-2. But in the real world we were never that near to them in anything but commitment and passion.   

There's a trait that is probably common amongst football fans but seems to have a particular resonance at St.James' Park, and it's probably best called righteous indignation.

Yes, goals can be scored and handsome victories recorded, to a background of general happiness. But it's only when something goes wrong and there's collective sense of grievance over a perceived injustice that the crowd really shift into gear and genuine backing from the stands emerges.

Dodgy goals, dismissals, whatever. If we see our heroes getting shabbily treated it's a great motivating factor to get behind them. Folks who barely raise a mutter suddenly become filled with anger, while others get swept along with the heightened emotion. 

Songs sweep round the ground, chants spring up out of nowhere and there's a sense that the supporters are trying to push the team bodily upfield to get back at the "enemy." 

We're not talking pigs heads and empty whisky bottles here though, just pure intense support. Bloody marvellous.

The result is that for a few moments this ground almost quivers as the fans roar the lads on. Maybe sometimes we'd prefer not to get in that position, but the evident intensity and raw emotion hanging in the air is what being in a genuine football crowd is all about. 

No amount of crap corporate schemes and stewarded seating blocks have eroded that spirit yet and you can't manufacture it with damn drums or flags. 

It used to be that our crowd was said to be worth a goal start, but increasingly it's that they're worth a goal back as we seek to recover from our latest setback. 

When the singing stopped though, the over-riding post-match emotions were sadness and pride. Sadness that we weren't able to have a real go at Inter through our shortcomings, pride that we kept on going despite the fact this was the most hopeless of causes.

There was realisation as well that we were beaten by a better team - better at scoring goals, defending and of course cheating.

Books could be written about our shortcomings, but anyone who tuned in or attended will surely see that the O'Brien / Dabizas partnership has no foundation, Hughes cannot remain at full back and that Viana and Dyer continue to be square pegs in round holes. 

If there was a bright spark it was that Robert seemed to have the scent of something in his nostrils and fancied it.

That we continue to raise ourselves game after game after what is turning out to be a series of momentous matches is a constant wonder. We also seem to be doing our best to finish off the manager - none of this can be good for the fellah - it's bloody killing me.   

This is the last 16 of the premier club competition - there aren't any mugs at that level - except us, sometimes. Naive attacking and defending in this game presented us with too many obstacles to chiselling a result out through hard graft and effort alone. Shame.

And there are still five more games to go, regardless of what tragedies and disasters await in this competition.  

Biffa

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