It’s been 16 years and a day since Newcastle suffered humiliation in the quarter-final of the UEFA Cup, throwing away a 2-0 aggregate lead to Sporting Lisbon and conceding four goals in the second leg at the Estadio Jose Alvalade.
Newcastle put themselves in pole position to progress after winning 1-0 in the first leg, courtesy of a goal from Alan Shearer, but things went to pieces in Portugal after a dream start.
Kieron Dyer gave Newcastle the lead at the Jose Alvalade, putting them 2-0 up on aggregate, but the game swung before the restart. Marius Niculae levelled the game before half-time and Sa Pinto scored midway through the second-half.
Newcastle would still be going through via the away goals rule, however, until Roberto Beto headed home to give Sporting an aggregate lead. Fabio Rochemback then bagged a fourth goal in injury time to put the tie to bed.
Sporting are certainly no slouches, but Newcastle threw away a brilliant opportunity to reach the final four. They were comfortable at 1-1 but couldn’t handle losing Dyer and soon fell apart.
In other news, revisit the time when Newcastle thrashed Man City at St James’ Park
