Newcastle United manager Alan Pardew has spoken of his relief that his side dumped Anzhi Makhachkala out before extra time in the Europa League.

The Magpies boss was all set for extra time, before Papiss Cisse grabbed the winner in the 94th minute against former Chelsea boss Guus Hiddink’s men.

Against all odds

The Russian side arguably had the best chances throughout the match, but it was the Toon’s fan favourite that popped up with the winner from a Sylvain Marveaux cross in the dying moments of the game.

There was not even time for the 10-man Russians to kick off again, meaning the Magpies had struck at the perfect moment.

The Newcastle boss said, as reported by Goal.com: “I’ve never experienced a game finish as late as that ever.

“John [Carver] came over and told me the game was over. I thought it was over before we scored. It was great that it was the last strike of the game.

“Our resilience has paid massive dividends tonight. I thought at half-time we needed to apply more pressure.

“The crowd got involved in the second half and we just created enough.

“We needed to keep the ball and keep working it and I honestly thought we would run out of time.”

Repeat

It is the second time in as many games that the Senegalese striker has scored late on in the game, as he scored the winner against Stoke City last weekend in the Premier League.

His manager continued: “It was a brilliant cross from Marveaux and Papiss does what Papiss does.

“It’s a chance that he [Cisse] could have perhaps made too much movement with his head but he waited and was calm and that’s what goalscorers do – they are calm in that crucial moment.”

The former Southampton boss believes that his side can go on to win the trophy, but insists it’s important to keep the fans’ and players’ feet on the ground.

He added: “Of course I think we can win it but we can’t get carried away. I honestly believe we have put one of the best teams out of this competition.

“We have beaten them with a slight bit of fortune but we can go on and win it.”