Carling Cup: Chelsea v
Newcastle - Newcastle wins it late in seven goal thriller (part 3)
As the match started to progress, the inexperience of the
Chelsea side started to come into play. They started committing unnecessary fouls and handed more possession over to
Newcastle.
One noticeable difference in Chelsea’s second half performance was that they were taking far more shots on goal as compared to the first half. It seemed as if Ancelotti had given them orders to shoot
on sight.
On the hour mark, Newcastle made a tactical substitution. Ismael Cheik Tiote was brought on to replace goal scorer Ryan Taylor. The move was clearly a tactical one since the manager was looking rest
Taylor and while introducing a defensive player to try and contain Chelsea’s attacks.
Alex very nearly gave Chelsea a life line in the game soon enough. The defender’s cannon of a shot beat everyone including the keeper, but it didn't happen to beat the post as the ball bounced off
the woodwork.
Things started to get worse for the London club. Yossi Benayoun seemed to have picked up a similar injury to Kalou’s and was struggling to go on. Since the team had already made all its available
substitutions, they were forced to play the remainder of the game with effectively ten and a half men.
Just as the game seemed to be over for
Chelsea, Anelka pulled out a goal from nowhere to give the team some hope. He received the ball on the left side of the box and guided his shot into the far post from twelve yards out.
The game had been blown wide open as a result of that goal, with both the teams knowing that the next goal will be the crucial one. If
Chelsea scored next, they would have been back in the game, where as if
Newcastle managed to score next, the game would have been over.
As the game progressed into the last ten minutes,
Chelsea went all out for a goal. They were attacking constantly and had
Newcastle’s defence under the cosh. Anelka nearly got the equalizing goal in the eighty fourth minute but his shot was expertly blocked by the keeper.
The game was turned around in the eighty fifth minute however. Alex was brought down by Ismael Tiote in the box and the
Newcastle defender was shown a yellow card for arguing with the referee. Anelka took the resulting spot kick and converted it with ease; he placed the ball into the lower left corner and had the keeper beaten by miles.
Just as Chelsea were looking to celebrate,
Newcastle snuck in a fourth goal out of nowhere. Jonas Gutierrez, who had been quiet for most of the game, whipped in a brilliant cross which Ameobi headed into the back of the net with just minutes of added time left on the clock.
Though Chelsea tried their best to get another equaliser, they failed.
Chelsea managed to lose their first match of the season, but the team still looked as strong as it was ever going to be. With one less competition for the team to participate in,
Chelsea look bound to dominate the English Premier League.
Newcastle, on the other hand were walking away from the match with a smile on their faces. Having been given a run for their money by a ten man, young
Chelsea side, Newcastle still managed to end up on top at the end of the regulation period.
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