MX23RW : Wednesday, November 27 02:26:42| >> :120:61791:61791:

Alan Pardew: "It was a great effort"

Newcastle United boss Alan Pardew insists that he was happy with his team's effort during their 3-1 defeat at Benfica.

Newcastle United boss Alan Pardew has praised his team's effort following their 3-1 defeat away to Benfica in the first leg of their Europa League quarter-final.

The Magpies manager believes his side did well to take the lead in Lisbon, and insisted that the penalty decision against Steven Taylor was a simple case of bad luck.

"I thought we did so much right to get into a great position. We had taken the sting out of them, then we gifted them a goal," BBC Sport quotes him as saying.

"I thought Steven Taylor was desperately unlucky for the penalty; it just was not to be. I cannot fault the players, it was a great effort. We came here to have a go at them."

Newcastle took an early lead when Papiss Cisse found the net, but the hosts hit back with goals from Rodrigo Moreno, Lima and Oscar Cardozo to give them a two-goal cushion ahead of the second leg.

ID:77798: cacheID:77798:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:2012:No Data Analysis info
Restore Data
Share this article now:
Newcastle United manager Alan Pardew before kick-off in the Europa League tie against Metalist Kharkiv on February 14, 2013
Read Next:
Live Commentary: Benfica 3-1 Newcastle - as it happened
>
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Sporting Lisbon1111003953433
2Porto119022882027
3Benfica108112872125
4Santa ClaraSanta Clara117041412221
5Braga116231911820
6Vitoria de GuimaraesGuimaraes115331211118
7FamalicaoFamalicao11452129317
8MoreirenseMoreirense115241514117
9Casa Pia113441014-413
10Rio AveRio Ave113351020-1012
11Gil Vicente112451419-510
12Estoril PraiaEstoril11245816-810
13AVS11245919-1010
14BoavistaBoavista11236715-89
15Estrela Amadora112361020-109
16Nacional10226615-98
17AroucaArouca11227619-138
18SC FarenseFarense11128518-135


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!