Newcastle United were part of Premier League history on March 4th 2009.
The Magpies were in action at St James’ Park 14 years ago, as they welcomed Manchester United to Tyneside.
While nowadays Newcastle United relish facing the Red Devils, that was not the case in 2009. Sir Alex Ferguson’s side were the Premier League leaders, while the Magpies were in the midst of a campaign that would end with them dropping into the Championship.
It was turmoil on and off the pitch at St James’ Park, but a win against Manchester United could have changed everything.
Peter Lovenkrands ended a Premier League record for Newcastle United
That win did not come, as the Magpies fell to a 2-1 defeat. However, they were ahead for 11 minutes.
In the ninth minute at St James’ Park, Newcastle capitalised on a rare mistake from Edwin van der Sar.
The Dutch goalkeeper sloppily parried Jonas Gutierrez’s weak shot into the path of Peter Lovenkrands, who sent St James’ Park wild by putting the Magpies in front.
Not only were Newcastle beating Man United, they had also brought an end to a Premier League record. Lovenkrands became the first Premier League player in 1,331 minutes to score past Van der Sar.
That remains the longest a goalkeeper has gone in the Premier League without conceding, and it would have been longer had it not been for Lovenkrands’ strike on March 4th 2009.
Wayne Rooney equalised 11 minutes later, before Dimitar Berbatov scored Man United’s winner.
Lovenkrands had two spells at Newcastle United
That was Lovenkrands’ second Toon goal after joining the club until the end of the season in January 2009. He scored three goals in 12 games, but could not keep Newcastle United in the Premier League.
The Danish forward was released in July, only to return for a second spell a couple of months later. Lovenkrands re-signed for Newcastle, scoring 13 Championship goals as Chris Hughton guided the club back to the top flight.
The former Rangers man spent another two seasons on Tyneside, before being released in the summer of 2012.
Across his two spells, Lovenkrands made 84 appearances and scored 29 goals for Newcastle United.
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