Although the match was played by two teams with totally opposite positions in the table, the outcome was nothing short of amazing. The fans cheered on St James’ Park as their team scored three times while conceding only two goals. People watching the game were in for a real treat as the match unfolded. It had all the necessary elements to produce a match worthy of the best championship in the world. With Howard Webb keeping things ticking along nicely, both teams gave it their all. It was obvious that Newcastle are keen to change their current Premier League ranking and desperately want to live up to last year’s expectations. They finished 5th and qualified for the Europa League group stages. Chelsea finished 6th but won the Champions League and the FA Cup. They are currently third, 6 points behind City and 13 points behind Manchester United.
Chelsea failed to present an organized team and lost the match by conceding a late goal. A draw may have been a fair result but football is sometimes cruel. They struggled during the first half and survived without letting in a goal only because of Cech’s excellent reflexes. They had a few important chances but ex-Newcastle striker, Demba Ba, did not rise up to expectation and even sustained an injury 40 minutes into the game. While he was receiving medical assistance, Gutierrez scored for Newcastle. It was expected that Chelsea show a little composure after half-time and rally, but Benitez failed to motivate his team in the right way.
The Blues managed to comeback, but not because of excellent team-work but because of the genius that Frank Lampard is. He managed to score an amazing goal from just outside the box. It is still a mystery for most why this iconic player is to be thrown out the back door at the end of the season. Just 6 minutes after Lampard’s shot came yet another stroke of genius from one of Chelsea’s top scorers. Juan Mata managed to curl the ball in the back of the net leaving Tim Krul helpless.
Tonight the best team won, not the best players. Newcastle came out fighting even if they conceded two goals in under 10 minutes. With ex-Inter player Davide Santon in great form and Papiss Cissé running circles around a slow Chelsea defense, goals were imminent. Terry missed a tackle and Gouffran outran Cahill to face Cech. The Blue’s goalkeeper fended off the first shot but could not deflect Sissoko’s attempt thus the score becoming 2-2. The last 20 minutes came with two chances on Chelsea’s behalf, but Mata and Lamapard failed to get their team ahead. Papiss Cissé had a great opportunity too but Cech denied him the goal. Torres did not do anything memorable except remind Benitez why he wasn’t the coach’s first choice.
The last 4 minutes of the game were not for the faint of heart. Santon secured his second assist of the night and Sissoko made it a double by beating Cech. The match ended dramatically with Chelsea requesting a penalty after Lampard’s shot was blocked by Taylor. Webb said no and the match was lost by Chelsea, which broke their invincibility streak on St James’ Park.