Newcastle 2 Chelsea 1
Papiss Cissé scores twice as Newcastle end Chelsea’s unbeaten runNewcastle Papiss Cisse 57, Papiss Cisse 78
Chelsea Didier Drogba 83
Papiss Cissé after scoring his and Newcastle's second goal against Chelsea in the Premier League at St James' Park.All good things must come to an end and, sure enough, Chelsea’s unbeaten run was brought to a shuddering halt by Alan Pardew’s pace suffused counterattacking specialists.
José Mourinho has never won a Premier League match at Newcastle United and even the enforced replacement of Pardew’s second-choice goalkeeper Rob Elliot with the rookie Jak Alnwick at half-time followed by the dismissal of the hitherto outstanding Steven Taylor could turn things the Chelsea manager’s way.
Perhaps the biggest surprise was that Elliot was not required to make a serious first-half save. Admittedly Chelsea had their moments – quite a few of them – but bar a spectacular overhead kick from Oscar which flew fractionally wide after the Brazilian had been smartly cued up by Cesc Fábregas, Mourinho’s players huffed and puffed to little ultimate avail.
Granted Chelsea struggled in an unusually elegant, often exciting manner, but Diego Costa and company found the excellent Taylor and Fabricio Coloccini a particularly obdurate central defensive barrier.
Even when Cheik Tioté did his bit to help Mourinho’s cause with one horribly heavy touch and then a slide rule pass to a slightly startled Oscar’s feet Pardew’s defence rode to the rescue.
Chelsea’s growing frustration was underscored by a certain anxiety; when Mourinho’s team were not pressing and probing in Newcastle’s half they invariably could be found coping with lightning counterattacks.
If the cameo when Taylor decided to treat everyone to his Franz Beckenbauer impression, exchanging passes with Sammy Ameobi as he surged towards the visiting penalty area was never going to end in a goal, Jack Colback could have scored a couple.
Tioté may have been having one of his unreliable days but Colback had shone in central midfield, frequently easing the pressure on his defence by disrupting Chelsea’s passing rhythm as he regularly broke up play.
Breaking late into the area Colback forced the advancing Thibaut Courtois into an important save as he attempted to chip him after being cleverly set up by Ameobi and Ayoze Pérez. A little later the former Sunderland midfielder shot narrowly wide.
While Chelsea were sporadically ruffled by Moussa Sissoko’s advances, Pérez’s pace on the break threatened to undo them. Receiving the ball on the halfway line the young Spaniard drew Gary Cahill into a challenge but dodged the centre-half’s lunge leaving Cahill a fast receding speck in his rear-view mirror. In the end the opening came to nothing but Mourinho had plenty to ponder.
No matter; when Elliot, who had injured a thigh while making a clearance, limped off at half-time to be replaced by the 21-year-old novice Alnwick in the home goal Mourinho must have sensed blood but, within minutes, Pardew was the manager celebrating.
Papiss Cisse had only just stepped off the bench and replaced Rémy Cabella when Ameobi crossed from the left, Cahill mis-kicked and, from six yards, Cissé shot unerringly beyond Courtois.
Chelsea very nearly equalised when, with Alnwick badly positioned, Eden Hazard shot against a post from around 12 yards but another Newcastle break swiftly resulted in them falling further behind.
This time Colback’s fine pass picked out Sissoko down the left. He looked poised to shoot when the ball seemed to become tangled in his feet as he was crowded by defenders. By now Courtois was off his line so when the ever alert Cissé connected with a ball somehow bundled into his path by Sissoko he took advantage and stroked it into the empty net.
Down in the visiting technical area Mourinho stood shaking his head, a disbelieving smile playing across his face. It became considerably broader when Taylor, already booked, was sent off for bundling Didier Drogba over. On as a substitute, Drogba was making quite an impact and soon headed a Fábregas free-kick past Alnwick.
After that Chelsea, aided by a somewhat astonishing six minutes of stoppage time, threw everything at Newcastle but somehow Alnwick held firm and Pardew was left to look forward to a very happy fourth anniversary as Newcastle manager on Tuesday.
Guardian
