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Pardew's Case For The Defence
Written by Newcastle Utd
Manager Alan Pardew was full of praise for Newcastle's defence after their clean sheet against Arsenal
By Anthony Marshall - Newcastle United Journalist
Alan Pardew heaped praise on his defence after seeing Newcastle record an opening-day goalless draw against Arsenal at St. James' Park.
An excellent clean sheet against a Gunners side was largely thanks to the back four of Danny Simpon, Steven Taylor, captain Fabricio Coloccini and Ryan Taylor, who stood tall in front of impressive keeper Tim Krul.
And Pardew was delighted with what he saw.
"In that first 20 minutes, Arsenal gave us a hard time, but we had tremendous resolve today and we stuck at it," explained the manager.
"There were some things in our performance which looked like the first game in the Premier League and I am sure we are not alone in that, but there were some real positives too.
"The two centre-halves were magnificent for us today; the goalie got a clean sheet. We worked hard and we were diligent."
Pardew was also quick to give Ryan Taylor plenty of plaudits after the full-back stepped in at the last minute following Jose Enrique's departure to Liverpool.
"Ryan Taylor, bless his heart, has had to play against one of the top players in the Premier League for this year, Gervinho," he said.
"Forget about his little incident, he was magnificent today and Ryan did terrifically against him, and then he has 15 minutes of Theo Walcott.
"Welcome to the Premier League at left-back, son! He was great.
"The goalie didn't have much to do, but what he did, he did very, very well and the two centre-halves today were outstanding. It looked like their tenth game, not their first."