Newcastle look to extend profitable run

Alan Shearer’s 21st goal in UEFA club competitions, via an 87th-minute penalty, was enough to give Newcastle United FC a valuable 1-0 away win in their opening group game at Panionios NFC.

Rich run of form
Last season’s beaten UEFA Cup semi-finalists now have a home game in which to improve their record in the competition this season after three straight wins, having beaten Hapoel Bnei Sakhnin FC in both legs (2-0, 5-1) of the first round. If this is Newcastle’s first match in UEFA club competitions against Georgian opposition, FC Dinamo Tbilisi have gained two fine wins over English opponents in the past.

Impressive record
After losing their first tie to an English club when beaten by Tottenham Hostpur in the 1973/74 UEFA Cup third round by 6-2 on aggregate, Dinamo gained revenge in the 1979/80 European Champion Clubs' Cup first round with a 4-2 win against Liverpool FC, the 1976/77 and 1977/78 winners. Then in the 1980/81 UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup quarter-finals Dinamo faced West Ham United FC and gained a much heralded 4-1 win at Upton Park. A 1-0 success for West Ham in Georgia was of little consolation, as Dinamo went on to their finest hour in European competitions to date with a 2-1 victory over FC Carl Zeiss Jena in the final.

Longest journey
On their three prevous visits to England, Dinamo lost 5-1 at Tottenham and 2-1 at Liverpool before the 4-1 win at West Ham. Dinamo Tiblisi are the only team left in the competition who have come through from the first qualifying round. They have reached the group stage with narrow wins over Belarus club FC BATE Borisov (4-2 on aggregate) and SK Slavia Praha (on the away goal rule after a 3-3 draw) in the qualifying rounds, followed by victory against Wisla Kraków (also on the awy goals rule after a 5-5 draw). But the first group game ened in a home defaet by 2-0 at the hands of French club FC Sochaux-Montbéliard.