On
Wednesday Newcastle played a huge match against Chelsea, who sat just a point
shy of the Magpies in 6th. A
Newcastle win would almost assure that they would be playing in at least the
Europa League next season. Luckily, Chelsea
seemed a bit worn from playing not only league matches but also still in the
hunt for FA Cup and Champions League glory.
As well, Newcastle – and one could say specifically, Cisse – came out
flying, with hopes of bouncing back from the poor loss to Wigan with a dramatic
turn-around win at Chelsea.
It
looked as though it would be a shooting gallery type night, as both sides
traded shots in the beginning of the match.
However, the Magpies’ marksman Papiss Demba Cisse settled down that
shooting competition rather quickly in the 19th minute. With an assist from Davide Santon, Cisse hit
a one-touch left-footed shot past Chelsea’s goalie Petr Cech and into the upper
right corner. The match seemed to settle
down after Newcastle took the lead, but things heated up just before the break.
Chelsea would get a few chances in that
later part of the first half, but all would go wide of the mark. Newcastle actually threatened the most, just
before the halftime whistle, requiring a few saves from Petr Cech and Demba Ba
having a shot strike the bar.
The
second half was again very back and forth and both teams became tired and the
game play became sloppy. It also became
quite scrappy too. Newcastle’s Chiek
Tiote was down for seven minutes with a head injury, eventually being carted
off. Just as the first half would end
with good chances, so would the second.
Chelsea had their chance first in the 88th minute, with John
Terry taking a header. Thankfully that
was cleared basically just off the goal line by Newcastle’s Santon.
Newcastle’s
chance would come in the 2nd minute of stoppage time. Ryan Taylor threw in the ball from a good 40
yards out to Shola Ameobi who was just to the left of the outer limits of the
18-yard box. If that accurately thrown
ball wasn’t impressive enough, Ameobi then chested the ball to Cisse at the top
of the 18-yard box who put the final stamp on the match with one of the best
Premier League goals of the year. Cisse
kicked a wicked bent shot over the head of Chelsea’s keeper Petr Cech (one of
the best goalies in the world mind you) and into the top corner of goal. The strike was the epitome of a “banana shot”
and too good not to share a video clip:
That strike capped a 2-0 win for Newcastle over Chelsea. Although they still remain in 5th place, the Magpies move four points up on 6th place Chelsea. With two games remaining, the win nearly (but not quite) locks them into at least a Europa League spot for next season. However, they still could also qualify for the Champions League. Here’s how things standing going into the last two games:
3rd
place (Champions League) Arsenal 66 pts / 24 goal differential
4th
place (Champions League qualifying rounds) Tottenham 65 pts / 23 GD
5th
place (Europa League) Newcastle 65 pts / 9 GD
6th
place Chelsea 61 pts / 21 GD
The
four point buffer should be enough for two match days remaining. However Newcastle hosts league leaders
Manchester City on Sunday. A loss to
them, and if Chelsea when their next league match, the door is still open for
Chelsea to sneak back through and jump ahead of Newcastle just at season’s end. Oh yeah, you bet I’ll be up early at 7:30 am
on Sunday, glued to a live feed of Newcastle vs. Man City. Howay the lads!
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