Owen winner sinks Man City
(AFP)
Updated: 2005-09-25 14:34

England striker Michael Owen paid off another chunk of his transfer fee, scoring the only goal as Newcastle United beat English Premiership rivals Manchester City at St James' Park.

Owen, bought from Spanish giants Real Madrid for a Newcastle record 17 million pounds (25 million euros, 30 million dollars), struck in the 18th minute to secure the Magpies' first home league win in eight attempts stretching over six months.

However a low-key affair did little to provide a compelling argument against the perceived lack of entertainment currently inflicting English football's top flight.

That will matter little to the hosts, who triumphed thanks to rare back-to-back clean sheets, as Owen opened his Newcastle account at St James' following his first goal at Blackburn last week.

The win moved Newcastle into mid-table but left City 10 points behind leaders Chelsea.

Scott Parker again highlighted his England credentials with an impressive midfield display, ably assisted by Lee Bowyer.

As a result, Newcastle provided plenty of ammunition for Owen, and the only surprise was that the 25-year-old failed to double his and Newcastle's tally against disappointing opposition.

There was little to cheer Manchester City manager Stuart Pearce, a former Newcastle left-back, as his side slumped to a third straight defeat following an encouraging start to the season.

City can have few complaints, as they rarely showed signs of emerging with a result to gloss over their midweek League Cup exit to League One minnows Doncaster Rovers.

They were hampered by the absence of forward Andy Cole, who missed a third consecutive game with a thigh injury, and defender Danny Mills who was deemed unfit due to flu.

Despite a largely lacklustre display, the visitors should have taken a sixth minute lead as Antoine Sibierski easily beat his marker Jean-Alain Boumsong to head Joey Barton's free-kick against goalkeeper Shay Given's feet from five yards out.

They were left to rue the miss, as Owen broke the deadlock with the kind of unflustered finish on which he has forged a reputation as one of the sharpest forwards in world football.

Defenders Richard Dunne and Sylvain Distin afforded Owen far too much space to latch onto an astute Bowyer through-ball, and the former Real Madrid striker stabbed a low show beyond exposed goalkeeper David James from just inside the City area.

It came as a major shock 20 minutes later, when presented with an even clearer opening than the one he scored with, that Owen failed to stretch the advantage.

Veteran striker Alan Shearer this time threaded a pass through the gaping hole in City's defence, but Owen, who left Dunne and Ben Thatcher trailing, shot straight at James.

City had no answer to Owen's pace and movement, and the forward again went close before the break when he shot narrowly over the bar from an acute angle as Distin failed to cover.

Without the luxury of a second goal, Newcastle were always likely to grow increasingly nervous as the contest wore on, but the visitors were unable to exploit United's obvious defensive frailties.

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