Dynamo Kiev - 2 Newcastle - 0 Five years after their last appearance in Europe's premier competition Newcastle United were last night rudely reacquainted with exactly what they had been missing. Whether either their players or management felt they really missed it after this sorry defeat is another matter.
Out-thought for much of the match, Newcastle were given a reminder of Dynamo Kiev's strengths: fast, accurate passing allied to solid defence. Newcastle occasionally had the former, but rarely the latter, although for once the Newcastle midfield was as much to blame as Bobby Robson's brittle back line.
Dynamo breezed through the Newcastle middle all too easily and should have won by more goals than the two converted by Maksim Shatskikh in the first half - a strike of utter brilliance - and by Alexander Khatskevich in the second.
Newcastle created nothing comparable and lost without scoring for the third game in succession. Confidence must be on the wane - and they face Sunderland on Saturday.
Robson's team selection reflected some hard choices before the game. The right back, Andy Griffin, who had not played since last September, came in, enabling Aaron Hughes to push forward into midfield. Hughes's presence meant that Nolberto Solano was edged onto the bench.
Kieron Dyer occupied Solano's territory wide on the right and with Laurent Robert also dropped to the dug-out to accommodate Hugo Viana, Robson employed a tight formation.
On a huge pitch in this atmospheric old stadium - full to about two-thirds of its 83,000 capacity - play soon generated its own width, however. Within 10 minutes this was like an FA Cup tie gone into extra-time. Newcastle's entertaining inability to play conservatively saw Dyer sprinting forward at every opportunity.
A fifth-minute free kick from Dyer's flank produced a half-chance for Nikos Dabizas. At the other end four minutes later - with Alan Shearer off receiving treatment for a kick to the head - Hughes was a little fortunate to get away with a challenge on the dangerous Romanian playmaker Florin Cernat in the Newcastle area after Shay Given's poor clearance had put his defence under pressure.
Given, though, could not be faulted when Kiev went ahead in the 16th minute. Surely no goalkeeper would have stopped Shatskikh's euphoric shot on the run. The ball was nudged forward from the Dynamo midfield by the young Croat, Jerko Leko. Without controlling it and without letting a Newcastle defender get near the ball, Shatskikh struck it from 25 yards. It soared past Given.
It is the kind of goal you would build a monument to and in this architecturally Soviet city, they might.
That was bad enough for the Geordies, but things could have got a lot worse on the half-hour when, having carved Newcastle apart, Leko showed amazing stupidity in running offside to convert Leandro's pass.
Considering Dynamo's superiority, 1-0 was not a bad scoreline for Newcastle at half-time and the way Kiev began the second half offered hope of a way back for Robson's team, Viana immediately going close with two shots from 20 yards.
But Dynamo were content to soak up these moments and then break away at speed. One such counter-attack ended with another disallowed goal and in the next the Ukrainians should have again made it 2-0 when Olivier Bernard blatantly handled Leandro's effort in the box. The Spanish referee waved the game on, with the home fans incredulous.
But soon they were cheering once more. A slick through-ball from Cernat exposed Newcastle's left, the substitute Alexander Melaschenko collected it and stung Given's palms with a diagonal drive. The rebound fell to Khatskevich, who followed up with his head from six yards.
In Group G, Dutchman Roy Makaay bagged a hat-trick as Deportivo la Coruna signalled their intentions with a dramatic 3-2 win over Bayern Munich in the Olympic Stadium. Makaay put the visitors ahead on 12 minutes and grabbed another on the break just as half-time approached.
Bosnian striker Hasan Salihamidzic (59) got the Germans back in it and five minutes later Bayern were level when a corner from England midfielder Owen Hargreaves found the head of Giovane Elber, who gave the goalkeeper little chance. However, all their hard work was undone when Makaay (77) nipped in to complete his hat-trick and secure all three points.
DYNAMO KIEV: Reva, Khatskevitch (Gavrancic 75), Cernat, Peev, Husin, Shatskikh, Ghioane, Leandro (Melashchenko 56), Nesmachnyi, Sablic, Leko. Subs Not Used: Khudzamov, El Kaddouri, Rincon, Bodnar, Skoba. Goals: Shatskikh 16, Khatskevitch 62.
NEWCASTLE: Given, O'Brien, Dyer, Shearer (Ameobi 79), Bellamy, Speed, Griffin, Hughes (Solano 68), Dabizas, Bernard (Robert 68), Viana. Subs Not Used: Harper, Jenas, Bramble, LuaLua. Booked: Hughes.
Referee: Iturralde Gonzalez (Spain).
