Wonder Ba savours Toon triumph

Wonder Ba savours Toon triumph

Published Jan. 4, 2012 7:15 p.m. ET

Ba collected his 15th goal of the season when he opened the scoring with Yohan Cabaye getting the second before a Phil Jones own goal rounded off the evening. Ba told Sky Sports 1: "We just went on the pitch, after what we did against Liverpool it was not good. "Today we had to get the three points." He added: "I don't really look at the opposition when I play - I just say if I give everything 100% I am going to be on a good day." Team-mate Shola Ameobi echoed his team-mate's sentiments, saying: "It's the start of the new year, start as we mean to go on. "We didn't really show up against Liverpool so that was a great opportunity for us. "We got a fantastic win. "We saw what Blackburn did to them a few days ago and we thought that could be something we could work on - get the ball in behind them and squeeze them up the pitch." Newcastle manager Alan Pardew believed his side had got just rewards for their endeavours. He told Sky Sports 1: "We won because we controlled the game in terms of what we wanted to do, we wouldn't let them play. "Physically and aerially today we had an advantage. "It was a great victory for us - we beat the champions 3-0 and we probably deserved that scoreline. "You've got to have brave players who are going to push on - we had some outstanding performances individually." Ba will now be heading off to the African Nations Cup but the Magpies boss is confident other players can step forward. He said: "You see the guys who came off the bench contributed. "(Leon) Best in particular stepped up to the plate when we lost (Andy) Carroll. "We knew it was going to happen and we accept that - it was a great new year for us." United manager Sir Alex Ferguson made no excuses but instead gave credit to the quality of the first two Magpies goals. He told Sky Sports 1: "We started reasonably well. "But they scored a fantastic goal and it really picked everyone up in the stadium. "The second was a killer for us. "We didn't make enough of our possession." Of Newcastle's front pairing of Ba and Ameobi, Ferguson added: "They are very strong, big aggressive lads. "They didn't tear us apart but they were a handful. "The story of the game was they had two fantastic strikes which put them in the driving seat." The Scot acknowledged neighbours City are now in pole position, saying: "Advantage to them of course. "It's not a time to panic - we have the experience to cope with that."

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