Newcastle United thrashed Sydney FC 4-0 in Dunedin Tuesday in a win the club dedicated to two fans who died in the Malaysia Airlines MH17 disaster.
Before the pre-season tour match, manager Alan Pardew and captain Fabricio Coloccini joined supporters in the stands of Forsyth Barr Stadium and laid wreaths on the seats allocated to Liam Sweeney and John Alder.
The Britons were en route to New Zealand for the tour when their flight was apparently shot down by pro-Russian rebels over eastern Ukraine, killing all 298 on board.
Both teams wore back armbands for the match and the crowd, some carrying banners honouring Sweeney and Alder, observed a minute’s silence before kick off.
Newcastle went into the fixture vowing to put on a show in memory of their fans and were as good as their word, leading 3-0 at half time.
New signings Emmanuel Riviere and Siem de Jong combined to open the scoring after 19 minutes, Riviere pouncing on a mis-hit clearance from Sydney keeper Ivan Necevski to set up de Jong’s goal.
Riviere, a new arrival from Monaco, then fired home from close range in the 26th minute to make it 2-0.