Newcastle target last eight

By Mark Bennet

Sir Bobby Robson believes that his Newcastle United FC side can still progress in this season's UEFA Champions League after their impressive 3-1 victory against Bayer 04 Leverkusen in the BayArena.

Vital win
Robson celebrated his 70th birthday in style as stand-in strikers Shola Ameobi and Lomano LuaLua both scored to put the English Premiership side's European campaign back on track. Robson said: "It was a vital win for us today and it keeps our chances alive. If, and I say if, we beat Bayer Leverkusen at Saint James' Park next week it will leave us in a good position. Barcelona will face Inter again and they will take points off each other."

Dynamic start
Ameobi and LuaLua, youthful replacements for the suspended Alan Shearer and Craig Bellamy, tore Leverkusen's defence apart in the first half-hour and Robson claimed that the dynamic start laid the foundations for the victory. "We got off to a fantastic start, getting a goal in the first five minutes," he said. "Obviously it was the worst possible start for Leverkusen. We knew that if we could take the lead early on we would be able to control the match from then on."

Praise for Ameobi
The former England manager hailed his team's overall performance, but singled out the 21-year-old Ameobi for special praise. He said: "Shola is a player for our future. He took his two goals really well. I am very pleased with his performance especially in the first half. We knew he would tire after about 70 minutes because of his lack of first-team football and that is exactly what happened. Nonetheless I am sure that he has got a bright future to look forward to."

Hörster outlines priorities
Leverkusen's new coach Thomas Hörster's reaction to his first game in charge was in stark contrast to the joy shown by Robson at the final whistle. The 46-year-old only stepped into the post vacated by Klaus Toppmöller on Sunday and admitted that his priority was 1. Bundesliga survival.

'Defensive errors'
Hörster said: "I said before the match that survival in the Bundesliga was my main ambition. I am not too disappointed with the result because we had our moments in the match. I thought that my players did really well in the first 30 minutes of the second half. Obviously we got off to a terrible start and gifted them two goals by making two defensive errors."

No return to sweeper system
Despite seeing his team concede two early goals, due in part to defensive mistakes, Hörster insisted that he would not change his 4-5-1 system and return to playing with a sweeper. He said "We made some early mistakes but as the match went on we improved and that is the most important thing. I said when I took the job that I would chose a system and stick to it. That is exactly what I will do."

Campaign at an end
However, Hörster conceded that his side were all but out of the competition, having failed to take a single point from their three opening group games and he would use the remaining matches to assess his squad. "If you look at the group then it is impossible for us to go through," he said. "The good thing about the remaining matches is that they will give me the chance to try some things out. The Champions League fixtures are vital tests for me because they will help me get to know the players better."