KIERON DYER showed he is worth his weight in gold to Newcastle as Sir Bobby Robson's side hit the Champions' League jackpot at St. James' Park last night.

Dyer, who scored the only goal in the first leg of this third-round qualifier in Bosnia, cut a swathe through the Zeljeznicar defence yet again to put United in line for a £15m bonanza.

The England midfielder's propensity to break down with injuries has always been a constant source of concern to Magpies manager Robson. But his form and fitness are holding up well as United now look forward to taking in the rarefied atmosphere of the first group stage of the Champions' League, the draw for which is held today in Monaco.

Profligate in Saturday's 1-0 home defeat by Manchester City when he squandered three glorious chances, Dyer made amends in the best possible way last night when he doubled his tally in the tie in the 24th minute before setting up late goals for Hugo Viana and Alan Shearer.

Lomana LuaLua, who had played his part in Dyer's goal in Sarajevo a fortnight earlier, continued his impressive start to the season with his third goal in four games to hand United a 2-0 lead on the night in 27 minutes. United turned the screw after the visitors had Sanel Jahic sent off in the 70th minute for scything down goal-bound substitute Shola Ameobi.

Portuguese wonder boy Viana grabbed his first competitive goal for United since his £8.5m summer move from Sporting Lisbon when he crashed home a left-foot drive four minutes later after Dyer had picked him out. And skipper Shearer became Newcastle's outright fourth all-time leading scorer with his 122nd goal for the club when struck ten minutes from time.

Dyer was once more the supplier with a perfectly-weighted ball from halfway, and Shearer powered clear to beat keeper Kennan Hasagic, who managed to get his hand to the shot.

Shearer also had a goal disallowed for offside and twice hit the woodwork with a raking drive which rocked a post on the hour, and a close-range effort from Viana's free-kick that clipped the bar in the 85th minute.

But there was a worry for Robson after LuaLua's game was cut short in the 51st minute with what looked like a recurrence of a niggling groin injury.

There was never any danger of United being lulled into a false sense of security by the claim of Zeljo coach Amar Osim that his side had only a one per cent chance of overturning the first-leg deficit.

And Newcastle were no doubt relieved that the dangerous Almir Gredic, scorer of three goals and who had one disallowed in the first leg, was ruled out through injury and had failed to make the trip.

However, an ebullient 50-strong band of Maniacs - the nickname of Zeljo's followers - had at least made the effort to journey to Tyneside, albeit more in hope than expectation.

Stung by the criticism he received for operating with a sweeper system at Maine Road, Robson recalled Viana to the midfield at the expense of Jermaine Jenas and reverted to his usual 4-4-2 formation.

Yet United still looked ill at ease in the opening stages until Dyer settled their nerves.

Right-back Jahic forged forward to try his luck with a left-footed 30-yarder which just cleared the far angle of post and bar.

LuaLua then blazed over for Newcastle on the end of Solano's astute delivery before Shay Given survived a potentially embarrassing moment when Sanjin Radonja's edge-of-area effort went through the keeper's legs.

But Given quickly recovered the situation and his composure to turn and gather the ball as it trickled towards goal.

Shearer's marvellous movement in eluding his marker for once wasn't matched by his finishing touch when Olivier Bernard whipped in a left-wing cross and his captain headed wide from the most inviting position.

But Shearer's ability to hold the ball up proved crucial in the build-up to the first goal two minutes later. The lay-off presented Nolberto Solano with the chance to chip a first-time ball into the path of Dyer, who delicately lifted it over advancing keeper Kennan Hasagic from a slightly acute angle.

And the lively LuaLua put United on Easy Street as he gathered Gary Speed's pass, withstood a determined challenge by centre-back Haris Alihodzic, and curled a right-foot shot out of the reach of Hasagic and just inside the near post.

The opening half ended, however, with Given pushing a piledriver from Sead Seferovic on to the roof of his net.

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