It’s fair to say that no Newcastle United fan will ever forget this match…
There are certain iconic games that instantly spring to mind when you think of the all-time great Premier League matches.
Liverpool 4-3 Newcastle in ’96, Tottenham 3-5 Man Utd in ’01 and Liverpool 4-4 Arsenal in ’09 all spring to mind as does the events that occurred 18 years ago today at St James’ Park.
Kevin Keegan’s Newcastle United were a joy to watch going forward, it’s a shame though that they didn’t know how to defend at times.
Their strikers consisted of the world-record signing Alan Shearer who spearheaded an attack that were also comprised of the deadly Les Ferdinand and the gifted maverick Faustino Asprilla.
If that wasn’t enough quality then the Magpies also had the jinking feet of Peter Beardsley and David Ginola’s Gallic flair to supply the ammo while the steel of Rob Lee and David Batty protected their back-four.
Keegan’s men didn’t need any team-talk going into the game having blown a 12 point lead over United the season before.
Prior to this 5-0 drubbing, the last time that United visited Tyneside saw them leave with a valuable three points thanks to Eric Cantona’s dramatic winner which proved to be a turning point in the title race.
The Magpies got their revenge a few months later as they tore into the champions with a five-star performance.
Darren Peacock’s disputed header opened the scoring before David Ginola’s absolute peach of a curling-shot doubled their advantage. Les Ferdinand’s powerful header put the game beyond doubt but the Magpies weren’t finished.
Alan Shearer’s tap in made in four while Phillipe Alberrrrrrrrrrrrt’s chip finished off a resounding victory.
Take a look.
Less than four months later Kevin Keegan resigned while Manchester United went on to win the league.
Clip via – justfarhan
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