HOLLAND might be famous for being the birthplace of some of the greatest painters of all time, but Mateja Kezman found himself returning to Eindhoven last night after having been given a lesson in the art of heading by two of Newcastle's very own grand masters.

At the age of 25, the Serbian international is one of the new breed of strikers who are said to represent the modern game at its free-flowing best.

Pacy and direct, Kezman is a constant threat if he is given time and space with the ball at his feet.

And, while his goal in the first leg showed why he is being tracked by a host of Premiership clubs including the Magpies, last night's UEFA Cup quarter-final second leg illustrated one part of his game that doesn't quite come up to scratch. It might be considered horribly old-fashioned, and it might not be a major part of the European footballing psyche, but it was the ability to win bread and butter headers in the six-yard box that took Newcastle through to only the second European semi-final in their history.

Kezman might have shown his ability from the penalty spot to draw PSV level shortly after half-time, but he didn't win a header all night as Newcastle dealt with everything the Dutch side threw into the box. Alan Shearer and Gary Speed won one apiece and that, more than anything else, is why the Magpies will now face Marseille for a place in the UEFA Cup final.

Kezman might have bagged a hat-trick in PSV's weekend rout of Groningen, but the Belgrade-born frontman needed the intervention of Spanish referee Mejuto Gonzalez to pose any sort of threat to Shay Given last night.

His cause wasn't helped by PSV's 4-5-1 formation that saw him plough a lone furrow in the first half but great strikers need to be able to create something out of nothing and, for much of the game, Kezman struggled to get a glimpse of the United goal, let alone endanger it.

The immaculate Jonathan Woodgate quickly worked out that Kezman could be out-muscled and out-thought and, once he had been denied space in which to turn, the Serb was unable to offer anything at all above ground level.

There was nothing wrong with the way he drilled his 52nd-minute penalty past a helpless Given but, as full-time approached, PSV were crying out for an aerial outlet that Kezman was unable to offer.

Newcastle, on the other hand, were able to call upon their two corner kick specialists to head them into the last four.

Shearer has been terrorising defences in the air for what seems like an eternity and his ninth-minute opener provided a perfect illustration of how to make the trickiest of jobs look sublimely simple. His own hard work earned a corner and his awareness and technique saw him make the ideal near-post run to glance Laurent Robert's spot-kick past Ronald Waterreus in the PSV net. Speed produced a near carbon copy to send United through.

The goals might not have been the most aesthetically pleasing seen in this year's UEFA Cup. But in football, unlike in art, things don't have to be visually pleasing to be hailed as a masterpiece.

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