South Wales Frustration & Eastern promise

This past weekend Newcastle were defeated in South Wales 1-0 by a Swansea team who are having the times of their lives after their recent Capital one cup victory.

To the neutral fan I am sure the win for Swansea would be no real surprise as the Welshmen have an impressive home record this season, however anyone who watched the game will know that the result does not tell the true tale of a closely fought match.

Seeing Newcastle lose to such a sloppy, late goal on Saturday took me to my lowest point of the season. Losing a game which we were dominating is such a crushing feeling. After riding our the early storm which saw lots of possession by the home team NUFC were able to adjust and grab the game by the scruff of the neck. We had chances to take the lead, none were clear cut chances, rather opportunities which we should have taken advantage of - Gouffran, Cabaye, and Cisse all had good efforts yet a goal would not come. Despite of this NUFC were completely in control of this game - easily dealing with any Swansea attacks and dominating possession of the ball.

All this good work was undone in a moment of madness which saw Luke Moore pounce on the ball following a mix up between Davide Santon and Mapou-Yanga Mbiwa to poke the ball home. This was not even a chance created by Swansea - Wayne Routledge played a hopeful ball into the the box and 4 United defender were out-foxed by Moore. All afternoon Swansea did not pose a problem for our backline, yet we were undone in such a basic manner.

My frustration is born out of the fact we played well, Pardew managed well, and Swansea were no threat yet we came away with nothing. To be honest I would rather lose a game 3-0 on a day where we just do not turn up at all - nothing is more deflating or crushing than not receiving any credit, or points when you clearly deserve them. I even find it hard to be harsh on our defenders, as all game they played well and nulified the prolific Michu.

We now need to dust ourselves down and prepare for a big Europa League game against Anzhi in the Russian capital. A 0-0 result or away goal is a must if we are to bring the tie back to St James where we can finish off the job. To do this we will need to pay close attention to their superstar forward - Samuel Eto'o and also the giant Ivorian forward Lacina Traore who scored against Liverpool in the group stages of the EL.

There are plenty of similar names amongst the Anzhi squad - Former premiership player - Yuri Zhirkov, Lassana Diarra, two Brazilians in Ewerton and the 35m Euro man Willian and the squad is managed by one Europe's best coaches in the Dutchman Guus Hiddink.

I fancy United to score, but also to concede and see a close game which will finish in a 1-1 tie - A result I am sure will see NUFC return to the North East with a smile of their faces.