PSV pegged back by Jenas (PSV 1 - Newcastle 1)
Jermaine Jenas' equaliser deep into added time at the end of the first half cancelled out Mateja Kezman's early strike and gave Newcastle United FC a 1-1 draw - and a crucial away goal - at PSV Eindhoven in the first leg of the UEFA Cup quarter-finals.
Newcastle held firm in the face of PSV's early pressure, and will now be confident of progressing to a last-four meeting with Olympique de Marseille or FC Internazionale when the second leg is played at Saint James' Park next Wednesday.
PSV fielded an unchanged side, with Arjen Robben, André Ooijer and Theo Lucius all still out, while Sir Bobby Robson - on his return to the club where he had two spells as coach in the 1990s - had to reshuffle his midfield after Kieron Dyer's late withdrawal with a hamstring problem.
As in the previous round against AJ Auxerre, PSV came out looking for a quick goal. Ji-Sung Park was unlucky to see his shot blocked by Olivier Bernard after only two minutes and seven minutes later Jenas made a vital clearance in front of John de Jong after a good cross from Kezman.
After 15 minutes the home side's early efforts were rewarded. Kezman robbed Aaron Hughes of possession after a long ball downfield and a flicked header from Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink, continued his run into the penalty area and left Shay Given stranded with a delicate curling shot. The strike made the Serbo-Montenegrin striker the competition's joint-top scorer on five goals.
After falling behind, Newcastle finally increased their own attacking efforts and almost equalised three minutes later, Gary Speed trying his luck from long range, but Ronald Waterreus tipped the ball over. The ensuing corner fell for Darren Ambrose, but his shot from the edge of the area was not accurate enough to trouble the PSV goalkeeper.
However, despite this short flurry, PSV continued to look the better side and the more dangerous in attack. With 23 minutes on the clock Mark van Bommel picked out Kezman in the area, but his attempt to flick the ball towards goal was blocked. Just a minute later, the two linked up again, but this time Kezman headed over.
Newcastle offered little until the closing seconds of the first half, but then they made their chance count. Laurent Robert sent a corner on to the head of Jenas and the midfield player beat Waterreus from close range to give the visitors an unexpected equaliser.
The second half followed a similar pattern to the first, with PSV looking for an early goal. In the six minutes following the interval, Wilfred Bouma had an excellent header turned away by a combination of the bar and a good save from Given and Young-Pyo Lee picked up a clearance from the Newcastle goalkeeper but steered his shot wide.
Newcastle survived the early pressure and had another lucky escape when Park's long-range effort from the right wing dipped over the bar behind Given. The visitors' only dangerous move of the second half came after 63 minutes when some neat short passes allowed Ambrose to unleash a shot that went just wide.
The home side continued to push forward with time running out and Given was lucky again when Kezman's vicious shot bounced off his chest and was cleared by Jenas. Six minutes from the end, substitute Dennis Rommedahl sent a cross into the area that missed everyone and PSV's last chance had gone.
PSV : 23 Waterreus, 30 Bøgelund, 20 Colin, 5 Bouma, 3 Lee, 6 Van Bommel, 7 Park, 13 Van der Schaaf (14 Vogel, 67'), 25 John de Jong (19 Rommedahl, 67'), 9 Kezman, 8 Vennegoor
Coach: Guus Hiddink
Newcastle: 1 Given, 18 Aaron Hughes, 27 Woodgate, 19 Bramble, 35 Bernard, 17 Ambrose, 7 Jenas, 11 Speed, 32 Robert, 10 Bellamy, 9 Shearer (23 Ameobi, 90')
Coach:Sir Bobby Robson
source: uefa.com.
