newcastle get their reward published: thursday 29 august 2002, 0.48cet newcastle united fc 4-0 fk zeljeznicar (agg: 5-0) newcastle sail through.
newcastle united 4-0 fk zeljeznicar (newcastle win 5-0 on aggregate) newcastle united fc booked their second appearance in the uefa champions league group stages with a 4-0 home success against fk zeljeznicar.
dyer breakthrough kieron dyer, scorer of the only goal of the first leg in bosnia-herzegovina, made the breakthrough again at st james' park before further goals from lomana lua lua, hugo viana and alan shearer rounded off a 5-0 aggregate victory.
'a great reward' the newcastle manager, sir bobby robson, claimed qualification for the first group stage was "a great reward for the players' performances last season" when they finished fourth in the premiership. the north-east club are one of four english teams in tomorrow's draw in monaco, along with arsenal fc, manchester united fc and liverpool fc.
as good as over after a bright start zeljeznicar went behind on 23 minutes, dyer running on to a nolberto solano pass and lobbing kennan hagasic. by the time lua lua had shrugged aside a defender's challenge to strike newcastle's second goal eight minutes before the break, the tie was as good as over.
jahic sent off however, the bosnians could count themselves unlucky to be two goals behind. sanel jahic shaved the crossbar with a shot from 30 metres while shay given was fortunate to keep out sanjin radonja's effort, the irish goalkeeper dropping the ball on the goalline before it was scrambled away. given also foiled sead seferovic but the red card jahic received midway through the second half served as a green light for the home side to pour forward and increase their lead.
viana opens account jahic was dismissed on 69 minutes for a foul on shola ameobi and five minutes later viana made it three with his first goal in newcastle colours. the portuguese international ran on to a dyer pass before beating hagasic at his near post with a fierce left-foot shot. shearer added the fourth on 80 minutes and could have had a hat-trick as he subsequently struck the woodwork and had a goal ruled out for offside.
robson optimistic robson considered zeljeznicar "more the standard of the uefa cup than the champions legaue" and believes his side will face a step up in class come the first group stage. "there's never an easy draw, we're going to meet some very strong teams," he said.
'all there for us' it is five years since newcastle's first appearance in the champions league but robson is far from daunted. "the club was a bit ill when i first got here but now we've got a good squad and a good staff," he said. "it's all there for us."
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