Necastle 3 Cardiff 0

by Roger Domeneghetti

at St. James Park

Cardiff’s season-long stay in the Premier League was ended by wins from the two North-East clubs. 

The Bluebirds’ 3-0 defeat at the hands of Newcastle at St James’ Park and Sunderland’s 1-0 win against Manchester United confirmed the relegation that had been on the cards for sometime.

“It’s very, very disappointing,” said Cardiff boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. “It’s probably the hardest moment for many of the players’ careers and mine too.  

“It’s been in the offing for a a while but now it’s actually happened and we’ve got to bounce back up.” 

Despite the consequences for Cardiff, for the Newcastle fans the game was merely a backdrop to their protest against Alan Pardew and Mike Ashley, the clubs’ manager and owner respectively. 

An unmarked Shola Ameobi opened the scoring after 17 minutes with a simple header from Moussa Sissoko’s cross. 

The goal settled Newcastle’s nerves and meant the fans did not walk out en masse in the 69th minute.  

A simple tap-in from Loic Remy in the 87th minute and a bundled goal from Steven Taylor in stoppage time also softened the mood. 

But the Toon Army still made their feelings known, calling for Pardew’s sacking as early as the third minute and loudly booing him when he briefly left the safety of the dugout late on.

“Obviously the fans were very angry and me coming off the side could have made things worse,” said Pardew. “The most important thing  was a victory for the fans. 

“It’s important that we make sure we start next season in the same way we started this season with — a strong squad challenging for Europe.”