Chelsea got back on track with a much-needed 3-0
victory as Andre Villas-Boas' men leapfrogged Newcastle
into the Premier League's top four.
Didier Drogba's third goal of the season was the platform
for a victory sealed by late goals from Salomon Kalou
and Daniel Sturridge.
Magpies keeper Tim Krul pulled off a string of fine
saves, including one from Frank Lampard's 14th-minute
penalty, to keep the visitors at bay before the late
flurry, but the home side were denied by the woodwork
on three separate occasions.
Victory will have come as a relief to under-pressure
Villas-Boas, who had seen his side lose three of their
last four games, while opposite number Alan Pardew could
once again be proud of a team which started the game
without Cheik Tiote and Leon Best and lost central defenders
Fabricio Coloccini and Steven Taylor before the end
of it.
If Lady Luck smiled on Newcastle in the draw at Old
Trafford last weekend, when they were awarded the most
dubious of penalties, she turned her back on them this
time around.
There were just four minutes gone when Yohan Cabaye
slid the ball in behind David Luiz to put Demba Ba in
on goal. The Brazilian's response was to cynically haul
down the striker a yard or two outside the penalty area
with only keeper Petr Cech standing between him and
the opening goal.
Referee Mike Dean took his time to make up his mind,
but then, inexplicably in the eyes of the bulk of a
crowd of 52,305, produced only a yellow card.
It was an issue Pardew no doubt sought to address when
he met the official as he left the pitch at half-time
with his team trailing 1-0, although the scoreline could
have been markedly different.
The Newcastle boss had attempted to counteract Chelsea's
4-3-3 formation by playing Peter Lovenkrands in an advanced
role on the left hand side with the usual occupant,
Jonas Gutierrez, suspended.
But all the ploy achieved was to highlight how much
protection the Argentinian gives full-back Ryan Taylor,
who found himself repeatedly exposed to the pace of
Sturridge.
The fledgling England international needed no second
invitation as he tore into the Magpies, and had it not
been for the excellence of Krul, the visitors might
have ben out of sight by the break.
It was he who lured Cabaye into an injudicious 13th-minute
challenge inside the penalty area which gave Mr Dean
little choice but to point to the spot, although Krul
dived to his left to turn Lampard's effort on to the
post.
The same upright came to Krul's rescue two minutes
later when Sturridge rattled it with a rising drive,
and he twice denied the striker one-on-one as Chelsea
attacked in waves.
They eventually took the lead seven minutes before
the break when Cabaye switched off long enough to allow
Mata to collect Ashley Cole's throw-in and cross for
Drogba to head home.
Despite being good value for their advantage, the visitors
had come under some pressure, and Cech had to pull off
a fine reaction save to keep out Ba's audacious 24th-minute
flick from Lovenkrands' cross.
The Senegal international was unfortunate to see a
35th-minute header come back off the post, and John
Terry was relieved to see his attempted clearance drop
wide of the goal after blasting the ball straight at
team-mate Luiz.
Lovenkrands found himself playing as an orthodox left-sided
midfielder after the break when Pardew replaced Hatem
Ben Arfa with striker Shola Ameobi and adopted a 4-4-2
formation.
They immediately looked a greater threat, although
they might have fallen further behind seven minutes
after the restart when Drogba chested down Branislav
Ivanovic's cross at the far post, but fired wide.
The Chelsea striker hit the bar with 55 minutes gone,
but he did so at the wrong end as he beat Ba to Cabaye's
corner, and Ramires was denied by Krul as the visitors
counter-attacked at lightning pace from the rebound.
Ameobi shot just wide from distance in an increasingly
open encounter with the home side gearing up for a big
push.
Younger brother Sammy Ameobi was denied a 74th-minute
equaliser when Terry cleared his volley off the line,
and Shola saw his piledriver come back of the bar with
Cech helpless six minutes later.
But with Steven Taylor having to leave the pitch injured,
Kalou struck from close range in the final minutes of
normal time and Sturridge made it three in stoppage
time to give the scoreline a slightly flattering appearance.
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