Premier League: Chelsea Is Invincible No More (Video)

Living on the West Coast and being a Premier League fan can be difficult at times. Every Saturday morning I have to make the decision of whether or not to wake up at 4:45 am or sleep in the only day of the week I can. Inevitably I remind myself that I can sleep when I die and I roll out of bed to turn on the TV. Saturday’s early morning match was a battle between the Premier League’s top club (Chelsea) and one of the hottest teams over the past couple of months (Newcastle United). Even though on paper this appeared to be another win for the Blues, it was a match worth waking up early for.

St James’ Park has always been a difficult venue for opposing teams. Chelsea had lost their last two matches on the road at Newcastle, but going into Saturday’s match, they had avoided defeat in their previous 23 matches in all competitions.

This was the third time in Chelsea’s history they had made it to the 23 game unbeaten mark. On the previous two occasions, the West Londoners failed to remain undefeated after their 24^th match.

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The match began in typical Chelsea fashion – complete dominance. They may have been on the road, but Chelsea was clearly the better of the two clubs on the day at Tyneside.

Newcastle’s defense looked shaky at times, but Chelsea failed to capitalize on their early chances. Willian was clearly one of the best players on the pitch and barely missed two shots in the opening 20 minutes which would have given Chelsea the lead.

After the early attack by Chelsea yielded no goals, Newcastle United’s defense settled down and the home club began to enjoy more possession of the ball. Throughout the first half Chelsea looked like the more likely of the two sides to get an opener, but after 45 minutes, Newcastle had survived and gone into halftime scoreless.

The second half was a lot of the same from Chelsea. They dominated possession but failed to find the final link to secure the opening goal.

Remy Cabella, who played incredible during Newcastle’s midweek match against Burnley, performed sub-par on Saturday and was substituted in the 53^rd minute for Papiss Cisse. And what a substitution that would be for the Magpies.

After just four minutes on the pitch, a Sammy Ameobi (the most fun name to say) cross came into the box which Gary Cahill failed to clear, the ball ran across the face of goal where it met Papiss Cisse who easily put it in the back of the net.

For the first time all season, Chelsea trailed in the second half of a match. Even though the Magpies took a lead at home, there was still more than half an hour to play. At no point did I think Chelsea would lose this match. I still believed they would score two or more goals and find a way to win.

In the 78^th minute Eden Hazard hit the right post and it looked like Chelsea were getting closer and closer to a goal. But within seconds, a Newcastle counter attack was on.

Led by Jack Colback and the pace of Moussa Sissoko, Chelsea keeper Thibaut Courtois was brought off his line and the pass was played square to Papiss Cisse who converted for the second time off the bench. For the first time it looked like Chelsea’s streak truly was in jeopardy.

A second yellow card was shown to Steven Taylor in the 81^st minute, but even with a one-man advantage, a two-goal deficit was just too much for Chelsea to overcome. The Blues got one back off a Didier Drogba header in the 83^rd minute, but that was all Chelsea could come up with.

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The Top Flight

For the third straight season Chelsea suffered defeat at Tyneside. Two weeks in a row Chelsea traveled to the Northeast of England and in those two matches only came away with one point (0-0 draw against Sunderland).

Their once insurmountable lead in the Premier League could be cut down to just three points if Manchester City come away with a win against Everton Saturday evening.

It was the four-year anniversary for Alan Pardew as the manager of Newcastle United, and what a way for him to celebrate.

Just a couple of months ago it appeared that he would be on his way out as Newcastle sat in the relegation zone. But with only one defeat in their past 8 matches, the Magpies have turned their season around and have now handed Chelsea their first defeat of the season.

Chelsea is invincible no more.

Of course Jose Mourninho had plenty to say in his post-match interview, but he was right about one thing, Chelsea was the better team even though they lost. But sometimes, “that’s football.”