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| Willian scored a late equaliser for Chelsea to deny Newcastle three points |
CHELSEA are running out of lifelines in their bid to retain the Premier League title.
Newcastle however, have found one of their own after pulling out a performance which even their most ardent fans thought impossible after recent results.
Toon boss Steve McClaren has seen it all before.
Back in his Middlesbrough days, McClaren inflicted upon Jose Mourinho his worst-ever result when Chelsea found themselves three down at half-time.
That startling Boro display followed hot on the heels of a heavy home defeat against Aston Villa when one fan angrily hurled a season-ticket towards the home dug-out.
Fast forward a decade and despite Newcastle letting slip a two-goal lead in the last 11 minutes, the boos and catcalls hurled at McClaren after the midweek Capital One Cup defeat against Sheffield Wednesday were replaced by deserved applause.
Chelsea were lethargic and complacent up until half-time before the introduction of Brazilian pair Willian and Ramires shook them into belated action.
And though Newcastle visibly tired in the last 20 minutes, they were feisty, vibrant and in their opponents’ faces throughout.
No-one epitomised their timely resurrection more than debutant Kevin Mbabu.
The Swiss youngster, playing as a makeshift left-back, barely gave Pedro a kick but he wasn’t the only home player to shine.
Georginio Wijnaldum’s energy set the tone early on with the midfielder bursting forward at every opportunity while fellow goalscorer Ayoze Perez offered Newcastle the previously missing vision and mobility in the final third.
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| Georginio Wijnaldum scored Newcastle's second goal of the match |
McClaren pointed to Aleksandar Mitrovic as pivotal and while the fiery Serb rarely looked like opening his goalscoring account, his presence offered team-mates physical assistance.
“He gives us identity,” said the Newcastle boss, who reckons he’s now close to knowing both his best line-up and most effective formation.
“My staff were screaming that I had to take him off because he was so tired but he was just a talisman out there.
“I really didn’t want to take him off but eventually had to and we definitely lost something.”
Newcastle had looked on course for only their fourth league win of 2015 when Wijnaldum guided a fine header past Asmir Begovic midway through the second half after Perez had earlier seized on woeful Chelsea defending for his first goal of the campaign.
But Ramires’ blockbuster and Willian’s fortunate free-kick, which deceived Tim Krul, means McClaren has yet to celebrate a league win.
According to Krul - who last week told his team-mates to man up - the team have taken a giant stride forwards even though he believes those in front of him are still too quiet.
“That’s the standard we set,” said the Dutchman who pulled off a fine save to deny Ramires a late winner. “We showed that we’re capable, especially in the first half which was top class.
“But we need more people speaking and unfortunately, that’s not the style of some of the players.
“It needs to happen. People need to take more responsibility and I think we did that.”
Chelsea knew they had got out of jail but defender Gary Cahill admits it won’t keep happening.
“We’ve given up a lot of our lifelines now,” he said. “Manchester City lost so it was time for us to capitalise.
We’ll take a point because if we’d lost, it would have been a massive blow.
“At the same time, we are disappointed because after wins in the Champions League and against Arsenal, we’d built up some momentum.
“But we just weren’t good enough in that first half. We’ll take positives from the character we showed in the second but you can’t play for only 45 minutes.”
Newcastle (4-2-3-1): Krul 7; Janmaat 6, Mbeba 7, Coloccini 7, MBABU 8; Anita 6, Colback 6 (Obertan 54, 6); Sissoko 5 (De Jong 90), Perez 8, Wijnaldum 7, Mitrovic 6 (Toney 84). Subs: Williamson, Lascelles, Thauvin, Elliot. Next Up: Manchester City (a) Premier League, Saturday.
Chelsea: (4-2-3-1): Begovic 6; Ivanovic 5, Zouma 6, Cahill 6, Azpilicueta 6; Matic 6 (WILLIAN 61, 7), Fabregas 6; Hazard 6, Oscar 5 (Ramires 73), Pedro 5; Remy 5 (Falcao 61, 5). Subs: Mikel, Kenedy, Terry, Blackman Next Up: Porto (a) Champions League, tomorrow.
Referee: Martin Atkinson.
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