But Newcastle, who lost Hatem Ben Arfa to a suspected broken leg, levelled via a close-range Jonas Gutierrez drive.
The 24-year-old becomes Magpies manager Alan Pardew's second signing of the transfer window after Hatem Ben Arfa completed a permanent move.
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Gerets has replaced Nasri and Cisse with Hatem Ben Arfa and Bakary Kone and hopes his side will be more of a threat this time around.
And they doubled their lead six minutes after that, Hatem Ben Arfa finding the net after a well worked build-up involving both Cisse and Yohan Cabaye.
James' Park, with the wonderfully talented pair of Yohan Cabaye and Hatem Ben Arfa at the club, as well as the likes of Sylvain Marveaux, Gabriel Obertan and Romain Amalfitano.
Newcastle's returning French winger Hatem Ben Arfa had the best chance of the match but saw his effort saved while Anzhi's Cameroon striker Samuel Eto'o looked dangerous for the home side.
Nasri came through the French youth system alongside the likes of Karim Benzema, Hatem Ben Arfa, Loic Remy and Jeremy Menez but Grimandi feels he had one particular quality that set him apart from his peers.
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Manchester City midfielder Nigel de Jong, who was dropped from the squad for last month's Euro 2012 qualifiers against Moldova and Sweden as punishment for his tackle which broke Hatem Ben Arfa's leg, has again been excluded.
Playing at home and trailing 3-1 from the first leg, the Magpies made a late breakthrough through Papiss Cisse and had a shot at glory only for substitute Hatem Ben Arfa to fire over with time running out.
Fulham's Bobby Zamora suffered a broken leg in a challenge by Henry, who was also fined two weeks' wages by his club for a tackle on Wigan's Jordi Gomez, while Newcastle winger Hatem Ben Arfa was injured in a challenge by De Jong.
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