newcastle make hay at home published: thursday 4 november 2004, 21.42cet newcastle united fc 2-0 fc dinamo tbilisi alan shearer and craig bellamy score for the hosts.
newcastle united fc put themselves in control of uefa cup group d as alan shearer and craig bellamy provided the victory at st james' park that leaves fc dinamo tbilisi still without a point or a goal to their name in the pool.
century mark shearer's strike was the 100th goal newcastle have scored in european competition at their home ground. it was a precise finish following a delicious through pass from patrick kluivert and followed a long spell of newcastle dominance.
three strikers dinamo made three changes following their matchday 1 home defeat by fc sochaux-montbéliard. without their brazilian defender césar romero it was an all-georgian lineup and they were on the back foot from the start as the home team - who included all three main strikers, shearer, bellamy and kluivert - were quickly into their rhythm as they sought to follow their opening victory against panionios fc.
kluivert denied kluivert could have scored on 16 minutes but a moment's hesitation allowed george shashiashvili to slide in with a great tackle. the big defender made another fine challenge soon after when lee bowyer threatened to break through.
all newcastle in between those moments of alarm bellamy might have scored after laurent robert put jermaine jenas in for the cross. it was all newcastle and the georgian side were fortunate not to fall behind as they struggled in defence.
rare chance in the 32nd minute levan melkadze had a decent sight of goal but there was little conviction behind his header which slipped disappointingly wide. it was a rare chance for the visitors, much more typical was the opening which robert then spurned after a long kick upfield was not cut out.
kluivert's the provider then in the 37th minute another measured touch from kluivert set up shearer who scored with ease. it was hard to see how dinamo could recover from the blow because they were unable to maintain any pressure at the newcastle end, most of their energy was spent trying to keep the home team out at the other end.
bellamy's volley the second goal highlighted dinamo's problems at the back. goalkeeper zurab mamaladze elected to punch rather than catch the ball from a robert corner, the clearing header did not ease the pressure and the alert bellamy thundered in a volley.
other chances there were plenty of other opportunities to extend the margin of victory. from a robert free-kick mamaladze did well to scoop the ball against an upright. the ball came back in and was turned over the line by shearer who was ruled offside. substitute james milner skilfully won himself an opening while kluivert was twice denied as he looked for another goal to add to the four he has already scored in the competition.
next games on 25 november, newcastle visit the side that beat dinamo tbilisi 2-0 on matchday 1, fc sochaux-montbéliard, while dinamo take on sporting clube de portugal.
