Newcastle United 2 v 1 Sporting Braga Match Report
Newcastle won the 12th Trofeu Internacional de Futebol do Guadiana after an entertaining match with Portuguese side SC Braga.
After historically drawing a penalty shoot-out, and having the threat of a result decided by the age of the squad hanging over them, Newcastle United won the 12th Trofeu Internacional de Futebol do Guadiana tournament in Portugal tonight after seeing off Sporting Braga, who finished last season in third in the Portuguese league. The Magpies showed some encouraging signs going forward in the first half, taking advantage of some occasionally calamitous Braga defending and a general lack of enthusiasm from their opponents in their own half , which saw a good chance for Papiss Cisse, whose eventual back-heel came to nothing. The Senegalese front-man then missed the best chance of the match so far, firing his effort over the bar after good work from Sammy Ameobi and Danny Simpson. The few chances that fell to Braga in the first half were dealt with by imperious captain Fabricio Coloccini and Steve Harper in the Newcastle goal, who wasn't troubled much throughout the first 45 minutes. Despite this being a friendly, it all threatened to get a little animated towards the end of the first half, as both sides put in some full-blooded challenges, and Cheick Tiote seemed intent to take vengeance for an earlier challenge that left him screaming in agony by kicking everyone in sight. Luckily he was neither hurt nor booked in that first half thanks to a charitable performance by referee Paulo Batista. Right at the end of the half, Braga's Amorim came closest to making a break-through,shooting from 18 yards, but dragging the ball wide of the far post without troubling Steve Harper. And then straight away Paulo Cesar also saw a decent chance saved by the veteran stopper. The first half ended with the teams still level, but with some good signs for both teams. The second half saw Braga turn up their enthusiasm levels noticably, making two changes with Eder and Jose Luis replacing Manoel and Carlao, the former quickly causing the Newcastle defence some problems with a back-four splitting run which was ultimately foiled brilliantly by Harper. Cheick Tiote followed his animated turn at the end of the first period by getting himself booked on the 52 minute mark for a foul on Amorim - who had admittedly spent the game trying to get someone booked - which may have had a good deal to do with the Ivorian's persistent offences earlier in the game. The break-through eventually came against the run of play, with Sylvain Marveaux, who had been quiet in the first half, dancing through the defence into the box after his cross was punched away by the 'keeper, only to be cynically hacked down by Douglao, who was booked for his troubles. Demba Ba stepped up to take the penalty, which was saved, before the Senegalese hit man brought his pre-season tally up to two by slotting in the rebound coolly. Ba then picked up a yellow card for reacting to a needlessly dirty challenge by Luis Alberto, who is also booked for the initial challenge, before Newcastle had the ball in the net for a second time, only to see Sammy Ameobi's close-range effort rules out for offside. Amorim quickly took advantage of the situation, levelling the scores after a good passage of passing play into the box led to a shot that unsighted Harper and left him helplessly falling to his right with the ball passing him agonisingly slowly into the net. Braga almost made it a quick-fire brace, Eder finding his best efforts to get clear of James Tavernier thwarted by the defender, before Cesar latched on to the loose ball and lofted it over the keeper but just wide of the far post. On 71 minutes Yohan Cabaye replaced Tiote, just in time to see Ryan Taylor bend a screamer of a free-kick over the wall and into the back of the net with the goalkeeper a stranded spectator. Another fantastic goal from the Scouse utility man. The Portugese side then have two very good chances to level things up again, with Douglao missing a glorious chance when clean through, and Jose Luiz hitting the post after eluding a slipping Coloccini. The 83rd minute saw Braga reduced to ten men, when Douglao was sent off for scything down Sammy Ameobi after some good dribbling work by the youngster, and then verbally abusing the officials. So much for friendlies, eh? Yohan Cabaye took the resulting free-kick, finding Sammy's head from distance, but it was too easy for 'keeper Beto. The game wound down with few more flash-points, until deep into stoppage time Yohan Cabaye brought a fine finger-tip save out of Beto after his volley into the ground looked certain to sail just over the keeper's head and into the goal. So Newcastle it was Newcastle United who won the tournament, the first silverware of a hopefully trophy-laden season.