Newcastle Utd 1 Middlebrough 1: Choruses of "There's only one Freddy Shepherd" rolled down from the stands and the match programme was adorned by a large picture of Dennis Wise sitting serenely behind a desk.
Admittedly the Shepherd chants came tongue-in-cheek from Middlesbrough's support but, allied to the image of Newcastle United's new executive director (football) apparently poised to start typing strategic reports on a shiny new computer, they emphasised that these are surreal times on Tyneside.
So much so that as Kevin Keegan's side huffed and puffed their way through a turgid first half, home fans could have been forgiven for wondering if Shepherd's chairmanship had been a golden era after all. By bringing in Wise last week Mike Ashley, Newcastle's current owner, raised plenty of eyebrows and there may yet be trouble ahead but, down in the home dressingroom, Keegan had more urgent worries.
Defeat would have sucked Newcastle to the edge of the relegation battle and while a draw left their manager still seeking the first win of his second stint in charge of the club, it at least included the opening goal of this reign. Scored by Michael Owen, it did not arrive until the second half but Keegan's captain also had a legitimate-looking early goal disallowed for a perceived foul on Mark Schwarzer. Middlesbrough's goalkeeper had fumbled, then dropped, a high ball from a corner, permitting Owen to stab home from point-blank range but, to Schwarzer's evident relief, it was mysteriously chalked off.
After that, first-half scoring chances were rare. With Gareth Southgate's five-man midfield closing down space and pressing their opponents, there seemed little room for exciting Newcastle manoeuvres and the sole real hope of a breakthrough was a penalty-area handball protest against Emmanuel Pogatetz. That, though, would have been harsh as Boro's left-back had both arms firmly by his sides when he was struck by the ball.
With Emre, just back from suspension, shackled in midfield by the style-cramping Lee Cattermole. Middlesborough started to dominatefor periods in the second half. Julio Arca and Fabio Rochemback began hurting Newcastle with incisive through balls and the hitherto anonymous Stewart Downing increasingly imposed himself, forcing Shay Given into a decent punched save and threatening to eclipse Owen.
Owen had at times appeared half a yard off the pace while frequently suffering from sub-standard service. Happily Emre's dead-ball deliveries tend to be stellar and one such free-kick enabled the England striker to out-leap a cluster of towering Boro defenders before flicking a fine header beyond Schwarzer.
Boro, though, were unhappy that Luke Young had been wrongly penalised for conceding that kick against Charles N'Zogbia.
Suitably aggrieved, Southgate's side rallied and only poor finishing prevented Gary O'Neil denied Boro an equaliser. O'Neil, who also saw a shot blocked by Steven Taylor, had easily skipped past Claudio Cacapa but the Brazil defender more than compensated with tackles to deny Aliadiere following his connection with a Rochemback pass and, later, Lee Dong-gook.
Indeed Cacapa's challenge on the Korean after Given had spilt David Wheater's shot proved a defining moment.
Boro, though, finally secured a deserved point when the ever more influential Arca sent a clever cross curving in from the right, permitting Robert Huth to peel left and wrong-foot the ever vulnerable Stephen Carr before heading the ball beyond Given.
There was still time for a Downing free-kick to hit a post and Aliadiere to volley the rebound high into the net before seeing it ruled out for offside - and for Newcastle to threaten to score from the ensuing break.
- Guardian Service
