Newcastle 0-2

Independent:

Newcastle United 0 Chelsea 2
Newcastle put Jose Mourinho’s nose out of joint

After a poor run of away form, Chelsea manager suffers a defeat he ‘smelled coming’ and implies the team he re-inherited over the summer have gone soft in his absence

By TONY BOOTH

No one does withering quite like Jose Mourinho. Asked yesterday is he had erred in his team selection, following a defeat he had ‘smelled coming’ against Newcastle, he did not waste a punch. “I made 11 mistakes,” he said. “I should pick the other 11 and not this 11. It is the feeling I have when my team plays so bad. Of course I’m exaggerating. We had some guys with some normal good performances, but the feeling is that I made 11 wrong choices.”
This has been an attack coming. Chelsea have won only one Premier League game away from Stamford Bridge this season. It was not even an inference from Mourinho. It was not even subtle. The team he inherited are no longer challengers for the Championship. The team he inherited in the summer has gone soft.
“Of course I’m worried,” he added. “I read the previous years and it happened the same. They were successful in cup competitions, not in the Premier League. They finished 20 points behind and 15 points behind. They qualified for the Champions’ League because they won it.
“Last year, in December, they were not in the race for the title because they were already 10 points behind. This season we have played five games away from home but we have one victory and two defeats. Of course it concerns me.
“We had lots of space to play where you can hurt the opponent and we were touching the ball side to side, slow, receive the ball and no sharpness to attack spaces and to try and be aggressive. We gave them 45 minutes of a friendly. I have to understand why.”
The opening 45 minutes yesterday were for Chelsea to win. Newcastle had the wounds of defeat to Sunderland and an extra-time Captial One Cup defeat to Manchester City. They were lightweight for that period. It looked men against boys but Chelsea were polite and without purpose. That stung Mourinho.
“I’m in this game for many years,” he said. “I was smelling what happened because the game was quite easy to play in the first half. We had lots of space but we were not sharp or intense with the ball. We defended quite well. Our back four was a simple easy job. We were not fast and intense and aggressive with the ball. We let the game go, waiting for a chance to score a goal or to concede a goal and lose it. That is exactly what I was talking about.
“I don’t need reminders. I don’t need to use a match to be aware of that. It is something I know. I pass it to my players every game. I know exactly how it is. It is why I was smelling it could go in this direction. The title race is there for everyone, it is open for everybody. I didn’t like my team today.”
He did not like how they could not handle Newcastle’s raw aggression after the break, when the game changed dramatically. John Terry, who had struck the crossbar in the first half, was rattled enough to be booked for dissent in the 77th minute.
By then his side trailed. Alan Pardew whispered into the ear of Yohan Cabaye as he readied to take a 69th minute free-kick to use pace and bend. Cabaye did. It was a brilliant ball and Yoan Gouffran headed past Peter Cech. The game’s dynamics had changed. A quiet crowd had life and Mourinho knew an opportunity for an easy afternoon had passed. Moussa Sissoko and Mathieu Debuchy excelled for the home side.
In the 89th minute, Gabriel Obertan and Vurnon Anita set up Loïc Rémy and he struck a fine finish past Cech. By then Krul had saved well from William and Debuchy had blocked the rebound from Samuel Eto’o. They were heroic bits of defending. There was another at the death from Mike Williamson. This is the spirit of an English team that Mourinho had feared. It was enough for a stirring victory.
“Chelsea keep the ball and if you go chasing you’re in for a difficult afternoon,” said Pardew. “I don’t think we were very good when we won it back in the first half but we had a bit more energy in the second half to put their back four under pressure.
“Because we exerted so much energy in midweek we decided to be very cautious at the start. We perhaps let them have too much possession. We knew we could exert more pressure and the crowd would get more involved. Yohan executed the free kick on the money. I’m not taking any credit for that. Gouf connected brilliantly. The crowd had just got involved before that. It was the perfect time to score. I felt confident we could win after that. We’ve got a great spirit in the group. I think we’ve played well. We’ve had moments when we’ve not been as great. We’re together. This win is for Mike Ashley and all Newcastle fans. We are all Newcastle fans.”

Newcastle (4-4-2): Krul; Debuchy, Williamson, Yanga-Mbiwa, Santon; Sissoko, Cabaye, Tiote (Anita, 53), Gouffran (Obertan, 85); Rémy, Ameobi (Cissé, 62).

Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Cech; Ivanovic, Luiz, Terry, Cole; Ramires, Lampard (Schü–rrle, 70); Oscar, Mata (Willian, 62), Hazard; Torres (Eto’o, 62).

Referee: Lee Mason
Man of the match: Sissoko (Newcastle)
Match rating: 7/10

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Observer:

Newcastle 2 Chelsea 0
Louise Taylor

Alan Pardew limbered up for his latest meeting with José Mourinho by issuing such a gushing ode to Chelsea's manager that he seemed in the grip of a bit of a man crush. The good news for Newcastle fans was that, on the privacy of the practice pitches, such public flattery evidently gave way to forensic detail and strategic planning as Pardew choreographed a vital win, which has offered him significantly increased job security at a juncture in his Tyneside career when he really needs it.
After spending the first half thwarting Chelsea and provoking Mourinho into the arguably questionable decisions to haul off Fernando Torres and Juan Mata shortly after the hour-mark, Newcastle inexorably gained control of the tempo, with goals from Yoan Gouffran and Loïc Rémy securing an ultimately much-deserved victory.
The less said about a first half played in swirling rain and beneath slate grey skies the better. All about containment and frustration, the nearest it got to a goal was a couple of John Terry headers – one bouncing off the bar, the other cleared off the line by Davide Santon.
Mourinho, despite his side enjoying by far the greater share of possession and half-chances, cut a damp, disgruntled figure in the technical area. The grim weather alone probably felt sufficient to vindicate the Portuguese manager's decision to reject the offer of his mentor Sir Bobby Robson to join him as his assistant at St James' Park back in the late 1990s.
If at times Mourinho seemed lost in thought, Pardew simply looked anxious and a little uneasy. For all that his players were succeeding in keeping Chelsea on a reasonably tight rein, odd little menacing cameos from a generally restrained Torres hinted at potential trouble ahead.
Equally ominously for Newcastle's manager, Yohan Cabaye's playmaking style was being cramped by Frank Lampard, whose early habit of making timely interceptions – this diminished as Lampard tired, faded and was eventually substituted – prevented the home side from establishing any sort of sustained passing rhythm.
It was all very well Pardew having clearly instructed his team to begin by standing off Chelsea and letting them have the ball in certain areas but he surely did not expect Newcastle to be quite so wasteful in possession.
Happily, such quibbles were forgotten after half-time when they adhered to their manager's instruction to start upping the tempo and putting Chelsea under pressure with considerable gusto.
Petr Cech diverted Moussa Sissoko's shot across the face of goal, after the midfielder was set free by Mathieu Debuchy, and Rémy might have done better than half-volley straight at Cech but the power balance had shifted.
Those two reprieves signalled the time for change on Mourinho's part. Despite some high-calibre movement, Chelsea's manager decided it was not Torres's day and replaced him with Samuel Eto'o before also withdrawing Mata – surprise, surprise – and sending on Willian. Within a minute, Pardew had hauled off Shola Ameobi in order to give Papiss Cissé yet another chance. If Ameobi felt slightly hard done by, Hatem Ben Arfa, dropped from the starting line-up, did not appear overjoyed as he warmed up on the touchline.
But Pardew was about to silence his critics. When Newcastle won a free-kick and Cabaye stepped forward to take it, the manager summoned the France midfielder for a quick touchline chat. Whatever was said clearly paid off because Cabaye unleashed a fabulous dead ball, whipped in at ferocious pace and headed into the bottom corner by Gouffran, with Terry eluded.
A period of prolonged, half-chance-punctuated home pressure soon had Mourinho shaking his head and muttering to himself. He may have tired of Torres but Newcastle had clearly been so terrified of the hitherto renascent Spain striker that his departure appeared to have liberated them mentally, instantly removing numerous attacking inhibitions.
Although Tim Krul repelled Willian's volley brilliantly and Debuchy did well to block Eto'o's follow-up, Pardew's players were, largely, defending well. Debuchy excelled against Eden Hazard, Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa quietly impressed and Santon pulled himself together admirably after initially threatening to fall to pieces in front of Mourinho, his manager at Internazionale and a man he was desperate to impress.
By now, the only person wearing black and white without a smile on his face was Ben Arfa who endured the sight of Gabriel Obertan trotting on for Gouffran as Pardew played his final card. Once again, managerial vindication came quickly with Obertan's pass finding Vurnon Anita. On for the injured Cheik Tioté, the underrated Anita dropped a shoulder before crossing for Rémy, whose crisp first-time shot flew past Cech. Pardew's happiness was presumably completed when Mourinho greeted the final whistle by throwing his arms around Newcastle's manager and hugging him long and hard.

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Telegraph:

Newcastle United 2 Chelsea 0

By  Luke Edwards, St James’ Park

This was not so much a defeat for Chelsea as a reality check. It was a loss that prompted Jose Mourinho to question himself as well as the mentality of his players and their suitability for a Premier League title race.
Mourinho did not hold back in his criticism, questioning his team’s title credentials, their attitude and their heart.
He was disgusted by the lack of energy and aggression, alarmed by the manner in which his side were out-played in the second half and irritated by the mentality of players who failed to appreciate how tough games at places like St James’ Park can be.
“I am worried about my team,” said Mourinho. “I look at previous years and it has happened the same. They have been successful in cup competitions but not in the Premier League. They have finished 20 points behind, 15 points behind [the title winners]. They have qualified for the Champions League because they won it, but they finished sixth in the league.
“Last year, by December they were out of the title race because they were 20 points behind. We have played five matches away from home in the league and have only one victory and two defeats. [Newcastle] have a wonderful crowd who are always behind the team and you have to come here with a certain type of mentality to win and we didn’t have that.
“I didn’t like my team today. I made 11 mistakes in picking the team. That is how I feel at the moment. Of course this is an exaggeration, we had some players who had normal performances, but I feel as though I made a mistake.”
Chelsea deserved to lose. They may have had some good chances to score both before Yoan Gouffran gave Newcastle United the lead and after, but the home side sat back in the first half and allowed them to play.
In the second, when Alan Pardew’s men threw off the defensive shackles and had the ambition to take the game to the opposition, Chelsea buckled in a manner that causes serious questions to be asked in Mourinho’s first year back as manager.
In turn, this was not so much a victory for Newcastle United as a tonic for so many ills that have gradually weakened this proud club at the heart of a football mad city.
Having lost the derby at Sunderland last Sunday and been knocked out of the Capital One Cup by Manchester City in midweek, this was a timely reminder that for all of the animosity towards Newcastle’s owner Mike Ashley, manager Alan Pardew does have a side who are capable of beating the best when they get it right.
It was a win that, for the time being at least, has given supporters depressed by Ashley’s handling of their club, enormous pride in those who represent them in black and white stripes.
“Some game plans in football don’t always come to light but we started conservatively as if you go chasing the ball from the start against Chelsea they stamp their authority,” explained Pardew.
“We put the back four under pressure in the second half and we cranked it up as the game wore on.
“I think we should really have three more points than we’ve got, but when we show that sort of work rate, we have quality players here who can win games. If we carry on playing like this, we’re going to have a good season.
“We’ve got good spirit and togetherness and we have some good players. You can’t have anyone drifting around, you have to have everyone working hard and we got that I said I thought we were playing well and should have won at Sunderland and could have beaten Manchester City, but you need a break in games and we got that today. We had just got the crowd going and we scored at the perfect time.”
Both sides were nullified as an attacking force in the first half, Chelsea’s best chances coming from a corner, while Newcastle tried their best to pounce on the counter-attack but rarely got anywhere near Chelsea’s goal.
John Terry came closest to opening the scoring, heading powerfully against the crossbar from a Juan Mata corner. Newcastle did not clear the danger and Branislav Ivanovic hooked the ball back on to the roof of the bar with the help of a deflection off Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa.
Chelsea felt as though they should have been awarded a penalty when Mata tripped over the leg of the hugely impressive Mathieu Debuchy. Sometimes they are given, sometimes they are not.
The game ignited at the start of the second half and it was Newcastle who had the flame in their hand. Shola Ameobi had forced his way through the middle of the Chelsea defence but shot tamely.
Debuchy then robbed Eden Hazard just inside the Chelsea half and threaded a through ball for Moussa Sissoko who only had Loïc Rémy for support so decided to shoot, but Petr Cech made a sharp save.
St James’ Park found its voice, Newcastle rediscovered their mojo. Ameobi headed back across goal for Rémy, who should have scored, but fired too close to Cech.
Gouffran, cut inside Ivanovic and the Chelsea goalkeeper made another important save.
The momentum was black and white and when Ashley Cole fouled Sissoko, Yohan Cabaye’s delivery was sublime, the ball landing on the head of Gouffran after Frank Lampard had misjudged its flight.
Newcastle had the lead and clung on to it. Tim Krul made one important save to keep out substitute Willian and Debuchy got an equally important block in on Samuel Eto’o.
With five minutes remaining, Hazard had a wonderful chance to equalise, but dragged his shot wide of the far post.
Rémy showed him how it should be done, taking advantage of some brilliant work by Vurnon Anita, who skipped past a defender and picked him out perfectly.
The striker, on loan from QPR, scored his sixth goal of the season via the inside of the post and celebrated by kissing a small boy on the top of his head in the crowd.
They may have been soaked to the skin by incessant rain, but this was a day that gave Newcastle supporters a reason to feel warm inside again.

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Mail:

Newcastle 2 Chelsea 0: 'I made 11 mistakes!' No-one spared as Mourinho kicks up a stink after Blues' shock defeat on Tyneside

By Bob Cass

Deep in thought and, no doubt, admiration, Jose Mourinho spent 10 minutes of the half-hour before kick-off standing alone, captivated by the ghosts of Newcastle United’s glorious past.
One by one, the faded photographs hanging in the entrance corridor of the likes of Hughie Gallacher, Stan Seymour and Frank Hudspeth, players in United’s last title-winning side 86 years ago, were perused by the Chelsea manager.
The portraits of Yoan Gouffran and Loic Remy may never join such exalted company, but that does not mean Mourinho will forget their faces. Joyous scenes after the Frenchmen grabbed the 68th and 89th-minute goals which prevented Chelsea climbing, albeit briefly, to the top of the Premier League table would have long since transcended those pre-match images.
'I’ve been in this game many years and I was smelling what was going to happen. I did not like my team today. When one team is not there they normally lose and that’s what happened to us today. We lacked everything really.’
Gouffran’s opener came after the home side had weathered a torrent of pressure that matched the rain which poured on a packed St James’ Park with stoic and sometimes fortunate defending. Suddenly, though, Newcastle hit their own purple patch around the hour.
Petr Cech made superb saves from Moussa Sissoko and Remy which prompted Mourinho to reorganise his troops, Samuel Eto’o and Willian replacing Fernando Torres and Juan Mata. But to no avail.
John Terry was penalised for a foul on Papiss Cisse ten yards inside the Chelsea half, six minutes after the striker had come on for Sammy Ameobi.
Yohan Cabaye pinpointed the edge of the eight-yard box with his superbly flighted free-kick and when both Branislav Ivanovic and Frank Lampard failed to cut the ball out, Gouffran (nickname Goofy) stole in behind them to beat Cech with a diving header.
It had been all Chelsea in the first half. Terry saw a header come off the bar then had another effort cleared off the line by Davide Santon. Ivanovic’s spectacular overhead kick struck Sissoko before clipping the bar and Tim Krul made terrific saves from Eden Hazard and Oscar
The game changed when Vurnon Anita took over from skipper Cheick Tiote in the 53rd minute. As far as Alan Pardew was concerned, his ploy of staying below the parapet while the opposition fired their salvos paid off as his team suddenly came over the trenches.
‘Some game-plans in football don’t always come to light,’ said the United boss later. ‘But we did start a little bit conservative. I have seen Chelsea many, many times and they stamp their authority on the game.
‘They keep the ball and if you go chasing them at the start, you are in for a difficult afternoon, so we decided to let them have it. I don’t think we were very good when we won it back in the first half, but in the second half we knew we could put a bit more pressure on them.
‘We had a bit more energy to try to put their back four under pressure, and that cranked up as we went on.’
After going a goal down, Chelsea camped in the United penalty area and again the Magpies had to defend grimly. In the 80th minute, Krul  brilliantly stopped a Willian first-timer and, from the rebound, Mathieu Debuchy hurled himself forward to block an Eto’o effort.
Six minutes later, Hazard looked certain to equalise but pulled his left-footer wide of a post.
Chelsea’s desperation to blast through led to their undoing. Gabriel Obertan, who replaced Gouffran in the 85th minute, combined with Anita to set up the clincher. Anita wriggled past Ramires’ puny challenge and squared perfectly for Remy to strike a fierce left-footed shot on the turn, the ball going in off a post to give Cech no chance.
Pardew punched the air in celebration of what was to become his first win over Mourinho as a manager.
‘We played well and deserved to win,’ he insisted. ‘At the top, top level — and I know Jose will back me up — you can’t have anybody drifting around. You’ve got to really, really work hard. The German format is beginning to introduce itself to the Premier League. Players are beginning to understand you cannot defensively switch off.’
Pardew gave special instructions to his midfielders to negate the threat of Chelsea — before telling Yohan Cabaye how to deliver the free-kick which turned the game.
‘They get between your lines and, if they can get in front of your centre-halves, you are in trouble,’ said the Newcastle boss. ‘Our two midfield players were designed to stay there and not let that space happen.’
And Pardew had a chat with Cabaye just before the free-kick that led to the opener against Chelsea, whose boss Jose Mourinho (left) has yet to win a League game at Newcastle.
Pardew said: ‘I asked him to hit it on the back of their back four with shape and a bit of pace and he executed it on the money.’

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Mirror:
 
Newcastle United 2-0 Chelsea: Yoan Gouffran and Loic Remy second-half strikes sink Blues
       
By Jason Mellor

Chelsea's indifferent away form continues at St James' Park as Alan Pardew's side cause an upset on Tyneside

Chelsea weren’t the only shower at sodden St James’ as Jose Mourinho was forced to endure an unwanted rendition of minging in the rain.
The Special One at least avoided a slap in the face, but couldn’t escape a kick in the teeth as his side’s six-game winning streak was brought to a shuddering halt.
Mourinho had been warned by Alan Pardew that he risked a swift right-hander if he repeated his crowd surfing antics after celebrating last week’s dramatic win over Manchester City.
There was never any danger of a repeat in this damp squib from the Blues, who drew a blank to be sunk by second-half goals from Yoan Gouffran and Loic Remy.
Newcastle manager Pardew said: “We’re a working-class city and our fans love to see that from their players, all the lads putting a great shift in.
“They love flair, but what they really want to see is a hard grind from the players.
“We’ve been consistently strong in the last four games in terms of performances.
“We’ve got quality and if we can maintain the work rate we showed we’ll keep creating chances and giving ourselves a chance of winning games.”
Remy made sure of victory a minute from time, finding the bottom corner with a crisp left-foot shot from 12 yards after latching on to a Vurnon Anita cutback as Chelsea left gaps at the back in a bid to rescue a little-deserved point.
Substitutes Willian and Samuel Eto’o both came close to claiming a late leveller, the Brazilian’s shot saved by Tim Krul and Eto’o’s follow-up blocked by the excellent Mathieu Debuchy.
When Eden Hazard’s 86th-minute drive drifted wide Chelsea were left to reflect on taking just five points from five away league games this season as they paid for failing to take their chances before the interval, twice hitting the woodwork.
In a forgettable first half, chances were few and far between, and yet with a little more luck, John Terry – one of nine changes from the Capital One Cup win at Arsenal – could have gone into the interval with two goals to his name. After 13 minutes his header from Juan Mata’s corner crashed back off the bar. Fernando Torres reacted first to the loose ball, but his volley looped up off Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa before landing on the bar and bouncing to safety.
It took Newcastle half an hour to mount a threat when Yohan Cabaye managed a shot after a knockdown from Remy, but the Frenchman’s low long-range effort was easily stopped by Petr Cech.
The keeper had to show sharper reactions soon after when diving to his right at his near post to keep out a snap shot from Moussa Sissoko.
That arrived shortly after Terry’s second chance, the centre-back connecting with a Frank Lampard corner only to see his effort cleared off the line by Davide Santon.
Newcastle regrouped at half-time and carved out three chances early in the second half before taking the lead. Sissoko, put through by Debuchy’s slick pass, saw his effort blocked by Cech at his near post. From the corner, Cabaye’s cross was knocked back by Shola Ameobi for Remy and his shot was ­smothered by the keeper.
Gouffran then cut in to unleash a shot saved by Cech, but he could do nothing to prevent the Frenchman from scoring on 68 minutes.
Cabaye sent over a free-kick from the right, and Gouffran stole a march on Branislav Ivanovic to find the net with a diving header.
Mourinho was left to stand and watch, no doubt reflecting that when it rains, it pours.

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Star:

Newcastle 2 Chelsea 0: Toon topple Mourinho's boys
JOSE MOURINHO spent ten minutes before kick-off studying photographs of Newcastle players of the past.

By Paul Hetherington

Then the Chelsea boss had to watch his own players surprisingly fail to get in the picture often enough as they suffered a shock setback.
Yoan Gouffran headed a fine opener for Newcastle as Mourinho’s record of never having won a Premier League game on Tyneside continued.
And on-loan Loic Remy struck the second goal – his sixth of the season – to make it 2-0 as the French connection paid off for the Geordies.
Both Newcastle’s goals came from French players on a day when Toon boss Alan Pardew did not even need to carry out his playful threat to give Mourinho “a slap” if the Chelsea boss made any exaggerated goal celebrations.
That is because Chelsea did not manage a goal as their run of six successive wins came to an end.
Newcastle, though, bounced back after defeats at Sunderland in the Wear-Tyne derby and against Manchester City in the Capital One Cup to ease the pressure on Pardew.
The Newcastle boss said: “This result is for our owner Mike Ashley and our fans.
“We’ve been playing well without getting the breaks but this proves we are very much alive and kicking.
“After all the energy we expended against City in the Capital One Cup in midweek we decided to be cautious at the start, then come at them.
“When we got the free-kick which led to our first goal I just said to Yohan Cabaye to whip the ball to the back of their defence.
“The execution was on the money and that goal changed the game.
“But I’m not claiming any credit for that – it was down to what a top player can do.
“Gouffran also did what wide players have to do these days – work hard. That’s the way Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund play.
“We are a working class city and the fans like to see that.”
Mourinho kept faith with Juan Mata after his impressive goalscoring performance at Arsenal in the Capital One Cup.
And it was a corner delivered by the Spain midfielder, regularly left out by the Chelsea boss this season, which created the first near-miss of a rain-lashed match.
Mata’s corner was powerfully headed against the bar by John Terry and from the rebound Branislav Ivanovic’s acrobatic, overhead effort was deflected onto the top of the frame of the goal by Moussa Sissoko.
A trip by Mathieu Debuchy on Mata went undetected when it might have brought Chelsea a penalty.
And another Terry header, this time from a Frank Lampard corner, was cleared off the line by Davide Santon.
Chelsea  dominated the possession from the start but Petr Cech still had to deal with efforts from Cabaye and Sissoko in the first half. And Newcastle gained the upper hand midway through the second period with Mourinho looking far from amused.
Cech just managed, with the faintest of contacts, to turn a Sissoko effort for a corner following Debuchy’s perfect pass.
From the resultant corner, Remy shot straight at Cech after Shola Ameobi had headed down.
And Newcastle’s second-half performance was rewarded with a 68th-minute goal.
Cabaye’s well-flighted free-kick – after Terry had fouled Papiss Cisse – was met by a fine header into the corner of the net by Gouffran.
Chelsea were close to an equaliser ten minutes from time, when Tim Krul denied substitute Willian, then Debuchy blocked the follow-up effort from another sub, Samuel Eto’o.
Eden Hazard then drove across the face of the goal and just wide.
But a minute from time Remy sealed the points for the Toon, driving home via the post after good work on the left by second-half substitute Vurnon Anita.