Newcastle United have been held to a 1-1 draw by 18-time Turkish champions Fenerbahce in a pre-season match in Austria this evening.
The first real chance fell to the Turkish side as Moussa Sow teed up Cristian Boroni, only for the defensive midfielder to blaze his shot over from ten yards out.
The Magpies had their first good chance just five minutes before half time as Cheick Tiote whipped in a dangerous ball, but Dan Gosling's header looped tamely over the bar when he should have done better.
Fenerbahce started the second half strongly, coming inches away from taking the lead twice within less than ten minutes of the restart, first through Miroslav Stoch and then through Alex.
Ryan Taylor responded by curling a free-kick inches wide before youngster Mehdi Abeid broke the deadlock with 15 minutes left. A ball in by Gael Bigirimana fell to the midfielder, who held off a defender before turning and slotting in his first senior goal for the club.
The goal seemed to spark Newcastle into life, with Papiss Cisse and Sammy Ameobi both squandering chances.
Despite a late flurry by the Magpies, however, it was Fenerbahce who had the last laugh, equalising in the 90th minute through Cristian to salvage a 1-1 draw.
Barney Corkhill
