SIR Bobby Robson last night praised his Newcastle United players despite watching them toil to a 2-0 defeat in Marseille that ended the club's dreams of European glory.

The Magpies weren't at the races in a one-sided first half that could, and perhaps should, have brought the French side more reward than Didier Drogba's well-taken opener.

They improved marginally after the break and, with the prospect of an away goal being enough for victory, began to peg Marseille back into their own half.

But, other than stopping a tame Alan Shearer effort, Fabian Barthez didn't have a save to make and Newcastle had the look of a beaten side long before Drogba made the game safe with a deserved second eight minutes from time.

The defeat was only Robson's second reverse in 18 UEFA Cup games and, while it extended Newcastle's record of never having won a competitive game on French soil, he was happy with the way his players responded to the highest of stakes.

"It's a disappointing result and it's been a disappointing evening because of that," said the Newcastle boss. "But I'm still proud of each and every one of my players.

"It's been a long campaign and that's the first time we've lost in 12 games in Europe - we should be proud of that.

"We asked the players to give us everything and that's what we got. I have no problem with any of the players - they played with a lot of spirit and enthusiasm.

"I think 2-0 is a flattering scoreline. It makes it look like a comfortable scoreline, but it was never comfortable for them."

Drogba's potential was all too evident when he rattled the Newcastle upright in the goalless first leg at St James' Park, but United's defenders twice granted him the freedom of Marseille last night.

The Ivory Coast international was left one-on-one with Aaron Hughes as he slotted home the opener, before finding himself all alone on the penalty spot as Newcastle's defence went to sleep again in the closing stages.

"Drogba was the match-winner," said Robson. "He had two chances and he took them, but we helped concede both of those goals.

"The first was from a free-kick from us and they caught us on the counter-attack and, for the second, we allowed their clever striker a free shot.

"Shola Ameobi did well for us, but he's still learning. On this evidence he's going to be a fine player for us - he might turn out to be as good as the player who played up front for them in a white shirt."

Drogba was undoubtedly the best player on the pitch, but his opening strike was greatly assisted by the lightweight posturing of Portuguese international Hugo Viana.

The £8.5m midfielder was brushed aside by Camel Meriem as Marseille broke, and his overall contribution was characterised by a succession of misplaced passes and ineffectual challenges.

He is one of the few Newcastle players who still has a European dream to pursue ahead of this summer's European Championships in Portugal but, on the evidence of last night's display, he will need to rediscover his form quickly to finish the season with a flourish in his homeland.

"Hugo didn't utilise his ability as we expected he would," conceded Robson. "He passed the ball very poorly and that is normally his game.

"But we knew Lee Bowyer is not really match-fit in terms of playing at this level for 90 minutes. We kept him back, knowing that he could come on and be a different player to Hugo Viana. He came on and did that for us - he was quite impressive."

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