Michael Owen gave watching England boss Steve McClaren and the Newcastle fans exactly what they wanted with a late winner against Wigan at St James’ Park.
NEWCASTLE: Michael Owen gave watching England boss Steve McClaren and the Newcastle fans exactly what they wanted with a late winner against Wigan at St James’ Park on Saturday.
Owen’s 87th-minute header was Newcastle’s first league goal at home since February and proved enough to secure a 1-0 win over a Wigan side who had played most of the second half with ten men following the dismissal of Kevin Kilbane just after the break. McClaren will be hoping for more of the same from Owen in the upcoming Euro 2008 qualifiers against Israel and Russia and will have been equally cheered by the sight of his injury-prone star striker completing the full 90 minutes.
The 27-year-old produced a perfectly-timed run to meet a cross from Obafemi Martins and nod the winner past Chris Kirkland, following up his League Cup strike against Barnsley in midweek. But his earlier profligacy had suggested he has yet to recover his best form and the vast majority of the 50,461 crowd must have been resigned to settling for a point after watching Steven Taylor hit the bar and both Nicky Butt and substitute Shola Ameobi squander superb chances. Kirkland’s goalkeeping was the basis of Wigan’s resistance but former Magpies defender Titus Bramble also performed impressively against his old club.
Owen almost gave Newcastle an eighth minute lead after a deft flick from strike partner Mark Viduka but his well-struck shot was turned round the post by Kirkland. The England striker should have done better with his next chance, gifted to him after Andreas Granqvist slipped. With only Kirkland to beat, Owen lifted his shot over the target. A frantic finale to the first half saw Kirkland save well from Butt before Taylor sent a header crashing into the crossbar.
Viduka was withdrawn at half-time, apparently with an injury, but soon after the restart it was Wigan who were forced into more significant reshuffling of their pack following the dismissal of Kilbane. The Irishman had fully deserved his first yellow card for a lunge at Taylor before the break but may have cause for complaint over the second, issued after he raised his arm in an aerial challenge with Alan Smith. Wigan boss Chris Hutchings withdrew former Newcastle favourite Antoine Sibierski and brought on defender Emmerson Boyce as his side attempted to hold out for a point.
The switch failed to prevent Newcastle from generating chances that substitute Shola Ameobi and Owen appeared determined to waste. Butt also failed to find the target after being left with just Kirkland to beat but Wigan were finally broken down with three minutes left.
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