Roeder Hails His French Star

Once again Antoine Sibierski was the hero in Newcastle's UEFA Cup campaign, as he struck the winner that gives Glenn Roeder one foot in the next round.

The 32-year-old's 79th-minute strike beat Fenerbahce and puts United top of the group with Italian side Palermo who beat Eintracht Frankfurt on Thursday 2-1.



Sibierski scored the winner against Levadia Tallinn in the previous round to put his new club into the group stages.

Roeder: 'I only knew him as a player, I did not know him as a person, but he made a good impression on me straight away when he came to the club, and the rest of the squad.

'Maybe because he was not particularly received, that has given him the motivation to prove a few people wrong and he is doing it in the best manner, by playing well and scoring a couple of goals.

'Even if he had not scored, his performance was excellent, his hold-up play, his laying the ball off, finding his team-mates was very good. He must have covered a lot of ground throughout the 90 minutes. He is delighted with his own performance and rightly so - and so are his team-mates.

'There are more goals in him in the rest of the season, and he is very versatile.'

Click here to join in the debate on the club forum.