UEFA Europa League Newcastle 1 Club Brugge 0 10/25/12

What Went Well: Gabriel Obertan scored his first goal of the season. Sammy Ameobi and Shane Ferguson played well looking like good squad players.

What Did Not Go Well: Papiss Cisse missed three glorious chances and looked off the pace. Cheick Tiote picked up another booking and played some poor passes.

What Else: Newcastle came out like a house of fire against Club Brugge. They dominated the first half but could not get a goal. Cisse could have had a hat trick in the first half but one goal would have been enough to give the home team a lift that they could push on with. The second half saw the introduction of Shola Ameobi and a switch to 4-4-2. Shola's pass to Sammy led to Sammy's great flick and pass to Obertan. Obertan took his goal well and has been the best player for Newcastle throughout the first 3 Europa League games.

After the goal, Club Brugge forced the action and could have gotten goal. Some good defending and bad finishing contributed to keep the Belgian side out of the net. Newcastle and Leverkusen are the only teams not to concede a goal in the Europa League group stages and that is a good stat to have.

Very happy to win a game where Hatem Ben Afra, Tim Krul, and Demba Ba were spectators and Yohan Cabaye and Fabricio Coloccini made cameo appearances. The absence of Sylvain Marveaux and the quick hook of Vernon Anita are worrying signs but it is a long season and both of those players will play their part at some point.

Now What: With the victory, Newcastle has 7 points in 3 Europa League games putting them in 1st place in the group at the midway point. That puts them in a great position to qualify for the knockout stages. As a fan of a team that has not won a trophy since 1969, I can not take the opportunity to pass up a chance at glory. These games have been beneficial to give some squad players a chance to play. A draw at Brugge and a home win for Maritimo should put Newcastle through to the next phase and after that we can all dream. As for now, a Premier League win against West Brom is next up on the schedule.