To put it mildly, there was some, shall we say controversy in this match. Newcastle has been off to an amazing start this season, even taking a point off of Manchester United at Old Trafford last week. On the other hand, the Blues have been struggling under new head man Andre Villas Boas. Their Champions League hopes took a huge hit with a loss earlier in the week, and traveling to St. James Park stood to be a tall order in the league as well.
The big controversy came pretty much right away. In the 4th minute, David Luiz brought down Newcastle's Demba Ba just outside the 18. It was clearly a denial of a goal scoring opportunity, and should have been a red card. Yes, as a Chelsea supporter, I'll admit that it should have been red. However, the ref only gave Luiz a yellow, and The Blues kept all eleven men on the field.
More controversy came about in the 13th minute, this time at the other end of the pitch. Cabaye brought down Daniel Sturridge in the box, and Chelsea were awarded a PK. Lampard struck the spot kick, only to have it saved by Tim Krul. Replays showed that Krul came off his line by a good yard to make the save, but it was admittedly a poor penalty from Lamps.
Krul continued to perform miracles in net for Newcastle, especially when it came to Daniel Sturridge. Sturridge tested the 'keeper all day long, but Krul saved shot after shot. Finally in the 38th minute, his luck ran out as Didier Drogba headed in a gorgeous cross from Juan Mata to make it 0-1 to Chelsea at the break.
Newcastle piled the pressure on the Chelsea goal in the second half in search of the equalizer. Petr Cech was forched into saves from shots by both of the Ameobi brothers, and Demba Ba hit the crossbar on 55 minutes. Newcastle nearly leveled in the 74th minute, but Captain John Terry came to the rescue and cleared Sammy Ameobi's shot off the goal line at the last second.
Chelsea eventually put the game away rather late. Solomon Kalou took a pass from Fernando Torres in the 89th minute and slotted it past Krul to make it 0-2. Then, 2 minutes into stoppage time, Sturridge finally managed to beat Krul as he smashed in the last goal of the match to make the full time result 0-3.
Newcastle certainly has a right to feel hard done by. Luiz really should have been sent off, and Chelsea would have virtually had to play the whole match down a man. I don't know what Luiz's problem is, he's looked horrid lately. He's been reminding me of a Brazilian version of Tim Ream. He is going to cost the Blues points if he doesn't get his head in the game. However, sometimes the football gods smile on you, and sometimes they don't. Newcastle's PK against United last week that got them the point at Old Trafford was pure BS. So, some things go your way, some don't. Perhaps the worst thing for Newcastle is that they lost Ryan Taylor to injury for the rest of the season.
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