Newcastle left with an uphill climb

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE/Newcastle Utd...1 Inter Milan...4: False starts and Newcastle are nothing new, but even by their own complicated European standard, Bobby Robson's team fell flat on their face last night.

Newcastle still had one foot in the blocks when Domenico Morfeo scored Inter's opening goal after 66 seconds and though that it is the sort of unstable situation from which Robson's team had recovered before, Newcastle had their head on the block when Craig Bellamy was sent off less than four minutes later.

Bellamy retaliated after being incited by the defender Marco Materazzi, and was shown a straight red card. The Welshman is likely to be banned for three matches, or even more, just as he was in the first group stage.

Newcastle came back from that setback to qualify, but last night there was no return once Matias Almeyda scored a searing second.

Or so it seemed.

Hernan Crespo had made it 3-0 before half-time, but Nolberto Solano got a deserved consolation with 18 minutes left. Then Alvaro Recoba came off the bench and sent a spectacular shot soaring past Shay Given to restore the margin.

That was bad enough, but Alan Shearer will now face an anxious wait to see if UEFA uses TV evidence to try to demonstrate that he elbowed Fabio Cannavaro during a dramatic first half.

Given that their next game is Barcelona away - and the Catalans won 2-1 at Bayer Leverkusen to make it seven wins out of seven - it would be a huge ask for Newcastle without their first-choice strikers.

Robson and his players may have gained a reputation for staging comebacks over the past year and a half, but both had emphasised the necessity of a solid start last night.

Some hope. Within five minutes they were one down in terms of both the scoreline and personnel. The goal came first, and once again owed much to a Newcastle defensive calamity.

Javier Zanetti, the Inter captain, surged down the right and crossed once he reached the box. Though the ball was too far behind Crespo for him to get more than a touch on it, Morfeo arrived at the far post to drive the ball high beyond Given.

It was to get even worse.

A Newcastle attack had petered out when Materazzi and Bellamy tangled as they waited for the ball to come down in the Inter area.

Materazzi leaned into Bellamy as the two men made contact. Bellamy was annoyed by this and seemed to throw an arm out.

When the Welshman followed that with a kick at Materazzi's ankle, the Italian fell to the turf. The referee had not seen the incident, but the linesman had and a red card was produced.

The activity relented for a few seconds, but soon Newcastle were three down.

First, Almeyda scored with a 25-yard screamer and then, in first-half injury-time, Aaron Hughes missed a tackle on Okan, whose low centre was swept in by Crespo at the near post.

The second half had a lot to live up to. Dabizas nearly pulled a goal back in the 51st minute, when Francesco Toldo had to claw away the Greek's header.

To their credit, it was the 10 men who were taking it to Inter and when substitute Laurent Robert threaded a pass to Solano, the Peruvian scored calmly.

But try as they did there was no Newcastle comeback last night.

NEWCASTLE: Given, Griffin, O'Brien, Dabizas, Hughes (Caldwell 85), Solano, Dyer, Speed, Viana (Robert 45), Bellamy, Shearer. Subs Not Used: Acuna, Jenas, LuaLua, Ameobi, Harper. Sent Off: Bellamy (6). Goals: Solano 72.

INTER MILAN: Toldo, Javier Zanetti, Materazzi (Cordoba 15), Cannavaro, Pasquale, Okan (Dalmat 66), Emre, Almeyda, Morfeo, Crespo (Recoba 80), Vieri. Subs Not Used: Fontana, Di Biagio, Gamarra, Coco. Booked: Cannavaro, Javier Zanetti, Crespo, Vieri. Goals: Morfeo 2, Almeyda 35, Crespo 45, Recoba 81.

Referee: S Bre (France).

Group A

REMAINING FIXTURES

Dec 10th: Inter Milan v Leverkusen

Barcelona v Newcastle Utd

Feb 18th: Barcelona v Inter Milan

Leverkusen v Newcastle Utd

Feb 26th: Inter Milan v Barcelona

Newcastle Utd v Leverkusen

Mar 11th: Barcelona v Leverkusen

Inter Milan v Newcastle Utd

Mar 19th: Leverkusen v Inter Milan

Newcastle Utd v Barcelona