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The Sunday TimesNovember 20, 2005Chelsea 3 Newcastle 0: King Cole hurts NewcastleJoe Lovejoy at Stamford Bridge
CHELSEA were out of sorts again throughout a goalless first half, but found their form after the interval, when nicely taken goals from Joe Cole, Hernan Crespo and Damien Duff saw off a below-strength Newcastle team lacking England’s man of the moment, Michael Owen.
Recent results had come as something of a shock for the champions, with elimination from the Carling Cup at home to Charlton Athletic followed by back-to-back defeats against Real Betis and Manchester United, and Stamford Bridge was not its usual cocky, raucous self until Cole settled the crowd’s nerves with the first goal, in the 47th minute.
Well before that stage, Newcastle were hard done by when Mark Halsey, the referee who failed to punish Grimsby Town’s Justin Whittle for elbowing Alan Shearer, refused them an obvious penalty for John Terry’s scything tackle on Lee Bowyer. Their sense of injustice was fuelled when they had a second appeal turned down, Frank Lampard appearing to handle the ball well inside the area.
Chelsea are back on track then, but for a long time they had only one tactic: get the ball wide and cross it. For most of the match, there was not much by way of constructive passing movement, and when the crosses did come in, they were generally wide of the target.
After their recent stutter, and with Wednesday’s Champions League tie away to Anderlecht in mind, Jose Mourinho rotated his star-studded squad and started without four regulars: Didier Drogba (suspended), Michael Essien, William Gallas and Paulo Ferreira. In their absence, opportunity knocked for Glen Johnson, who failed to take advantage, plus Crespo and Eidur Gudjohnsen, who did.
Essien’s rest lasted all of 13 minutes, at which point he was called on to replace Claude Makelele, who injured a knee in making a typically robust challenge on Scott Parker. One man who is never rested, of course, is Lampard, who equalled David James’s record of 159 consecutive Premiership appearances. He marred the occasion with a booking late on, but made his usual thoroughly effective contribution, producing the final pass for Crespo’s goal.
For Newcastle, the omens weren’t good. They arrived without a win in 16 previous visits to the Bridge, or even a goal in their past four, and were without not only the talismanic Shearer but also Owen, the “Lion of Geneva”, absent with groin trouble.
Their midfield anchor man, Parker, was always in for a busy afternoon against his former club, and was not found wanting. The men in the famous zebra stripes could scarcely believe their ill fortune when they were denied two penalties in the first ten minutes. Graeme Souness was apoplectic when Terry got away with taking Bowyer’s legs instead of the ball close in.
“It looked like a penalty to me, and Bowyer was adamant that it was,” the Newcastle manager said. Had he asked the referee about it? “I don’t do that, you don’t get any sense out of them,” he snorted. Struggling to find any sort of rhythm or cohesion, Chelsea should nevertheless have scored after 18 minutes, when Ricardo Carvalho rose unchallenged to meet Duff’s free kick eight yards out, only to head horribly wide.
The chance sparked intermittent pressure from the league leaders, but they failed to translate a sudden glut of possession into anything worthwhile. Mourinho preferred to credit the opposition rather than criticise his own players, saying: “We were not playing well in the first half because Newcastle were. They gave us a difficult game.”
Crespo did manage to scramble the ball into the net in the 35th minute, but his supplier, Duff, had strayed offside. Cole let fly, but Celestine Babayaro, playing against his old club, was in smartly to deflect the shot behind, and from the consequent corner, taken by Duff, a glancing header from Asier Del Horno was inches wide of the far post. At half-time the honours belonged to Newcastle, but within two minutes of the resumption Chelsea were ahead, courtesy of a misplaced pass from the hapless Titus Bramble.
Gudjohnsen fastened on to it and from the edge of the centre circle delivered a pass that invited Cole to run through in the inside-right channel. The England midfielder did so with pace and purpose before scoring with a crisp shot. Newcastle’s obdurate defence had cracked, and after 51 minutes the margin was doubled by a lovely finish from Crespo. Essien originated the move, winning possession from Nolberto Solano before transferring it to Lampard, on the edge of the
‘D’. From there, the England man’s expertly weighted pass enabled Crespo to embarrass Bramble before curling his shot inside Given’s left-hand post.
Charles N’Zogbia gave the Geordie contingent belated reason to warm their hands with a rising 20-yarder that Peter Cech was happy to tip over. But the last word went to Chelsea, in the 90th minute, when Duff, out on the left, stepped inside Peter Ramage before scoring with a shot from 17 yards that deflected in off Parker. Souness said: “I didn’t think there was a great deal between the two teams, other than the fact we made two defensive ricks.”
Mourinho, asked about his reported contratemps with Crespo, replied: “It was suggested that he was injured playing for Argentina and that I ordered him to come home. The injury was cramp and I didn’t. He came back on Thursday and there were no problems as far as I was concerned.” After yesterday’s match, the Chelsea manager refused to speak to the daily newspapers that had reported the “row”.
STAR MAN: Joe Cole (Chelsea)
Player ratings: Chelsea: Cech 6, Johnson 5 (Gallas, 60min 6), Carvalho 6, Terry 6, Del Horno 6, Makelele 5 (Essien, 13min 6), Gudjohnsen 8, Lampard 7, Cole 8, Crespo 7 (Wright-Phillips, 80min 5), Duff 7
Newcastle United: Given 5, Babayaro 5, Boumsong 5, Bramble 4, Ramage 5, N’Zogbia 5, Bowyer 6, Emre Belozoglu 5, Solano 5 (Chopra, 70min 5), Ameobi 5
Scorers: Chelsea: Cole 47, Crespo 51, Duff 90
Referee: M Halsey Attendance: 42,268 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mirror:
IT'S A BLUES CRUISE CHELSEA...............3 Cole 47, Crespo 51, Duff 90 NEWCASTLE..........0 Cool Crespo has Chelsea back in the title mood Anthony Clavane
THE visit of one of Roman Abramovich's closest aides to Chelsea's training ground got everyone's knickers in a twist earlier in the week.
After back-to-back defeats there was ludicrous talk of the wheels coming off. And rumours that overpaid, underachieving stars like Hernan Crespo would soon be shown the door.
A tad premature, perhaps.
If Eugene Tenenbaum returns in the next few days, he will have to congratulate Jose Mourinho on extending the Blues' lead at the top of the Premiership to a staggering nine points.
And heap praise on Crespo for a wonderful goal that killed off a Newcastle side on a bit of a high after four straight wins.
Crisis? What crisis?
True, this was a routine, at times mundane victory over Graeme Souness's outfit - who, without England hero Michael Owen and Alan Shearer, had nothing to offer up front.
But winning 3-0 without hitting top form is the mark of champions.
With Didier Drogba suspended, Crespo seized his chance to stake his claim as first-choice centre-forward with both hands.
The South American followed up last week's strike for Argentina against England with his fourth goal of the season.
The club have denied a rift between Crespo and Mourinho. There are even suggestions that the Argentine striker, whose unauthorised time in the Middle East with his country didn't go down well with his club boss, will leave when the January transfer window opens.
But that would be a big mistake, for the Blues aren't exactly spoilt for attacking options. It took Joe Cole to calm the home side's nerves after a stuttering, at times sloppy first half in which they failed to produce one shot on target.
Receiving the ball from Eidur Gudjohnsen after a mistake by Titus Bramble in the Magpies' defence, the England midfielder struck a low drive past keeper Shay Given with great precision.
Then Crespo, playing in only his sixth Premiership match of the season, was put through by Frank Lampard after Nolberto Solano had been dispossessed.
The striker sublimely curled the ball around Given to make it 2-0 - and it was game over.
A third strike with just seconds remaining - Damien Duff gliding past Peter Ramage to fire home - sealed victory and proved that Chelsea are back on track.
Before yesterday, they had won only one out of their last five games in all competitions. The critics claimed they'd never been the same since losing their 40-game unbeaten run in the Premiership at Old Trafford.
A 1-0 Champions League defeat at Real Betis, and being knocked out of the Carling Cup by Charlton, meant the rot had set in.
What rot.
Mind you, they were lucky to be on level terms at half-time. The Toon Army might never have won a Premiership match at the Bridge but they had Chelsea pinned back in the opening quarter of an hour.
After only a few minutes, John Terry brought down Lee Bowyer in the box; yet referee Mark Halsey was the only person in the ground not to think it was a penalty.
Halsey turned down another good spot-kick appeal soon after when Lampard clearly handled the ball.
The home side were getting frustrated, and Claude Makelele was lucky to escape being booked after taking a flying leap at Scott Parker - the Frenchman injuring himself in the process and being replaced by Michael Essien.
Parker obviously felt he had a point to prove against his old club on his first return to the Bridge - as a crunching, but fair, challenge on his former team-mate Cole demonstrated.
But the first real chance fell to the Blues, Ricardo Carvalho making a complete hash of a free header after Duff had picked him out.
The Irish winger's corner was then glanced wide by Asier Del Horno.
As against Bolton a month ago, when they won 5-1 after being a goal down, Chelsea responded to their boss's interval blast to return a different side in the second period
And the Toon Army could only sit back and watch as Crespo and the rest, without breaking sweat, tore them apart.
MAN OF THE MATCH
JOE COLE
Chelsea's best player in a poor first half, and scored a great goal to calm the home side's nerves after the restart.
RATINGS
CHELSEA: Cech 7, Johnson 6 (Gallas 6), Del Horno 6, Terry 6, Makelele 6 (Essien 6), Carvalho 6, Lampard 6, COLE 8, Duff 7, Gudjohnsen 7, Crespo 7 (Wright-Phillips 6).
NEWCASTLE: Given 7, Solano 6 (Chopra 5), Emre 7, Babayaro 6, Ramage 7, Boumsong 6, Bowyer 6, N'Zogbia 6, Parker 7, Bramble 5, Ameobi 6.
MANAGERS: Mourinho 7; Souness 6
REFEREE: M Halsey 4
OVER the last 25 years Newcastle have not always enjoyed the trip to Stamford Bridge. They lost 4-0 in 1979-80, 1983-84 and 2004-05. They lost 5-0 in 2003-04 and 6-0 in 1980-81.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------The Observer
Cole strike restores Chelsea's swagger
Will Buckley at Stamford BridgeSunday November 20, 2005
One of the more wearisome traits of the times is the obsession with novelty. These days to be ahead of the game you have to call it before you see it. So it was that a handful of attention-seeking bookies paid out on Chelsea winning the Premiership before the end of September. It is an age of prematurity.And the bookmakers who had gone so early were in danger of seeming foolish during a sterile first half yesterday afternoon. Not only were Chelsea failing to beat a weakened Newcastle, they were also both cumbersome and lumbering, more cart-horse than champion.
Thanks to some half-time kidology from Jose Mourinho, normal service was resumed after the interval and their eventual win was comfortable. But they still need to take care for they are far from impregnable.
Both line-ups contained surprises, Newcastle not being able to play Michael Owen due to a groin injury and Chelsea opting to select Glen Johnson ahead of William Gallas.
The early play came from Newcastle. A header from Lee Bowyer flashed past the post and then the Newcastle player appeared to have been tripped up in the penalty area very slowly and very deliberately by John Terry. Perhaps it was too slow for referee Mark Halsey to catch it. Whatever, he declined to give a penalty.
Chelsea seemed both hesitant and rash, a combination made worse when their calmest player, Claude Makelele, had to come off after sustaining an injury making a high challenge on Scott Parker. That said, being able to replace him with Michael Essien lessened the blow.
And they might have taken the lead had not Ricardo Carvalho got underneath a threatening free-kick from Damien Duff. That proved to be a brief flash of inspiration, however, and too often they hoofed the ball forward.
Newcastle, meanwhile, hurtled around and harried their opponents without creating a chance. Chelsea managed to put the ball in the net, Hernan Crespo bundling it in from a yard, but Duff had been a whisker offside in the build-up.
The first half passed without a single save. There were no shots on target and precious few off it. Without the suspended Didier Drogba Chelsea lacked a focal point, and purpose.
Usually when Chelsea find themselves out of sorts they call for Eidur Gudjohnsen but he had been on from the start, albeit a yard off the pace and the target. Perhaps they just pretended to bring him on as a sub because within minutes of the restart he released Joe Cole who scored with the game's opening shot on target. The next one came four minutes later with Frank Lampard bringing the ball forward and releasing Crespo who calmly bypassed Shay Given.
Newcastle had to attack but in doing so left themselves pitifully weak at the back. Chelsea, now keeping the ball on the deck, were now rampant, as fluent as they had once been faltering.
Newcastle threatened briefly - a Charles N'Zogbia effort being well saved by Petr Cech - before Chelsea glossed their goal difference with a fine individual effort from Damien Duff.
Man of the match: Joe Cole - inventive in attack and mindful in defence.
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Telegraph:
Chelsea ease back into the winning habitBy Patrick Barclay at Stamford Bridge
Chelsea (0) 3 Newcastle (0) 0
Maybe it was the pressure of performing in front of Malaysia's Minister of Tourism that caused Chelsea to seize up in the first half. And maybe Jose Mourinho used the interval to remind them of his recent remark that, if his team lost three matches in a row, he would expect to be sacked.
At any rate, they wasted little time in stopping what passes round these parts for a rot. Beaten by Real Betis and then Manchester United, they scored twice in a burst that proved lethal to a Newcastle side who had won three in a row in the Premiership but seemed to sense that the addition of Michael Owen to their casualty list was a signal to embrace realism.
Even so, Graeme Souness's team had been slightly the better of the two in a dire opening 45 minutes during which the manager exuded frustration over decisions that went against his side, in particular a penalty claim by Lee Bowyer. But once Joe Cole and Hernan Crespo had struck, the contest was dead. There were only seconds left when Damien Duff scored Chelsea's third.
While Newcastle were under-strength because of injury - their good news was that Owen's groin strain is not expected to keep him out of the match at Everton next weekend - Chelsea indulged in a spot of rotation. No doubt with an eye on Wednesday's visit to Anderlecht, rests were prescribed for Michael Essien, Didier Drogba, William Gallas and Paulo Ferreira. Within a quarter of hour, however, Essien was required to replace Claude Makelele, who had hurt himself in challenging Scott Parker.
The suspicion that it might still be an unequal struggle was enhanced when Titus Bramble underhit a pass back, obliging Shay Given to rush from his goal and boot clear of Crespo. Yet Newcastle settled and had two plausible appeals for penalties rejected. Their system involved Shola Ameobi up front, supported by Lee Bowyer, who in one of his early forays danced daintily past John Terry, inviting a tackle that arrived late; referee Mark Halsey's unwillingness to point to the spot infuriated Souness.
Next, Frank Lampard appeared to handle in the area. Chelsea needed all the luck that was going. Their sluggish movement offered Newcastle every encouragement to show a little more aggression and, from Emre's free-kick, a subtle header by Ameobi held promise - until it hit his team-mate, Charles N'Zogbia. No sooner had Asier del Horno raised Chelsea's hopes by advancing to meet a corner with a glancing header that went wide than the visitors were on the attack again, although a poor cross by, of all people, Emre let them down.
Any notions that Chelsea could go through an entire match without posing a sustained threat were, of course, far-fetched and they improved after the interval, as they had done against Bolton a few weeks back.
Only two minutes of the second half had gone when Ricardo Carvalho forced the ball forward, Crespo nodded on and the errant Bramble, having intercepted, gave it to Eidur Gudjohnsen. Cole duly presented himself to the Icelander's right and drove wide of Shay Given. Another example of Chelsea's speed on the break came four minutes later.
Essien won the ball from Nolberto Solano deep in the home half, accelerated and found Lampard. The England midfielder ran on and pushed the ball wide to Crespo, who side-stepped Bramble and sent a curling shot beyond Given.
Gallas came on for the limping Glen Johnson, Shaun Wright-Phillips for Crespo, who had done enough to suggest he might be preferred to Drogba in Brussels. Newcastle supplanted Solano with Michael Chopra and kept fighting, but only a low, left-foot drive from Ameobi made Petr Cech work before Chelsea again counter-attacked in numbers and Duff cut in before beating Given with the aid of a deflection.
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Independent;
Chelsea 3 Newcastle United 0 Cole strikes to end Chelsea 'crisis'
By Adrian Curtis at Stamford Bridge
Chelsea delivered the perfect response to their critics with an emphatic second-half display that crushed stubborn Newcastle at Stamford Bridge.
Newcastle had matched the reigning champions for effort and endeavour in a goalless opening half but strikes from Joe Cole and Hernan Crespo inside four minutes ensured that Chelsea restored their nine-point advantage at the top of the Barclays Premiership. Damien Duff completed the scoring right on the final whistle when his shot was deflected over the luckless Shay Given.
Jose Mourinho, clearly infuriated by his side's recent dip in form, had made a number of significant changes with William Gallas and a partially fit Michael Essien relegated to the substitutes' bench along with winger Shaun Wright-Phillips. There was no place at all in the line-up for Paulo Ferreira.
The Portuguese coach opted to replace the latter with Glen Johnson at right back in what was only his second start of the season, while Ricardo Carvalho slotted into the centre of defence alongside skipper John Terry.
Didier Drogba's suspension was overcome by the choice of a fit-again Crespo as Chelsea looked to banish the defeat to Manchester United at Old Trafford last time out. However, the home side were lucky to escape what appeared to be a valid penalty appeal in the fifth minute when Terry felled Lee Bowyer. But referee Rob Halsey turned down the appeals.
In the seventh minute, Claude Makelele needed lengthy treatment after a dangerously high tackle on former Blue Scott Parker and was replaced five minutes later by Essien. Chelsea survived a second penalty scare in between when Del Horno appeared to handle inside the area as Newcastle gave the champions a few restless moments.
However, Carvalho wasted the clearest chance to opening the scoring in the 18th minute when he rose unmarked in the area only to head Duff's free-kick wide of the target.
Frank Lampard, equalling David James's record of 159 consecutive appearances in the top flight, was unable to impose himself on the game and as a result, Newcastle had more than their fair share of possession in the opening period.
But the critics who claimed Chelsea were beginning to lose a bit of their self-belief would have been heartened by a display that lacked guile and style.
This was not the Chelsea that swept all before it on its way to the first top flight title in 50 years last season. Their performance was a far cry from the team that went 40 matches unbeaten and only occasionally did Chelsea show any signs of their old swagger.
Mourinho resisted the urge to change his personnel during the interval, clearly hoping that his faith in the individuals that had failed to shine in the opening half would repay him.
His judgement was as astute as ever with Cole putting the Londoners in front two minutes into the second half.
Titus Bramble gave the ball away to Eidur Gudjohnsen and the Icelandic striker, playing in a midfield role behind Crespo, slotted the ball into the path of Cole who ran on to despatch a right-foot shot into the corner of the net for his fourth of the season. The goal lifted the gloom surrounding Stamford Bridge and sent the previously mute home fans into full voice.
It was now all Chelsea as the familiar style and panache returned with their confidence and four minutes later they doubled their advantage.
This time the architect was Lampard who provided a trademark pass into Crespo's path after Essien had won the ball in midfield. The Argentine striker checked his run before turning to fire the ball into the top corner to deliver the perfect response to those critics who claim he is unhappy at the club.
It was Chelsea at their very best once more and the fight, so evident in the opening half, had now evaporated from Newcastle's game.
Mourinho made his second change of the game on the hour, again enforced, when he replaced the injured Johnson with William Gallas at right back.
Crespo was replaced by Wright-Phillips with just over 10 minutes of the game remaining as Chelsea continued to exploit the space they were now enjoying.
The home side were content to play the game out to its conclusion with Newcastle demonstrating very little threat in attack to worry Terry or Carvalho.
Indeed, Chelsea had the last word when Duff burst into the penalty area and his shot was deflected over Given for the third.
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