74mins A fortuitous scuff from sub Andriy Shevchenko whose mis-hit fell to our new nemesis, Didier Drogba to turn the ball in from close range at the Matthew Harding end. 0-1

Full time: Chelsea 1 Newcastle 0

Glenn Roeder said:

 "He (Mourinho) could hardly expect with the team we had that we would be over-ambitious. I am proud but I would rather have been proud and taken a point. I am proud because some of our defending was top quality. The boys did magnificently. It would be unfair to say anything else.

"We've gone to the home of the champions and lost 1-0. Normally you would be relatively happy but the dressing room was full of disappointed faces. Yes, we played well but every player knows they could have taken something away that they would have fully deserved.

"Jose Mourinho would have looked at our team and thought our team would not have mounted attack after attack like we did. They thought we would only be able to score on the counter attack.

"But we could have scored first and Shay Given had little to do - so that tells you everything.

"Defensively the boys did terrific, Paul Huntington made his full debut against Chelsea against Arjen Robben who is a world class player.

"He ran at him in the first half but I remember one tackle by Paul and it was totally stunning.

"He should be proud of his performance, as should Matty Pattison.

"We have come up against people like Michael Ballack and Michael Essien and everybody showed how much they wanted to be a Newcastle player with their performance.

"Although there are two people that have come off with injuries, there are two that are nursing minor injuries who are big doubts for Saturday.

" I am not making excuses, these are facts."

Jose Mourinho commented:

"Today he (Drogba) was injured. I think a normal player with a normal attitude wouldn't play this game. I was trying to protect him, I was trying to tell him that normally if a player is out for 15 days he misses two matches but that if he is out for the next 15 days he misses four or five.

"I was trying to explain that the best decision was to save him. If the result was positive for us at half-time I wouldn't play him but it had to be. I felt we needed him, not just tactically but also mentally. And not because of the goal. The goal is important but his attitude in the game - the way he works for the team and the emotion he brings to the team was very important.

"The fans don't pick the team, I pick the team. I don't select because of fans' views or your comments. I select on my analysis - some of it scientific analysis, some of it based on my vision of the game and my knowledge of the game. Yes, he's untouchable still.

"I decided to make some changes and Shevchenko was out. I think he took it as a professional and although he was not happy, he behaved properly.

"I would change a Petr Cech injury for five or six minor players. No doubt."

"I don't see [the gap] as five points. I see at as two because three depend on us. 

"Three is Chelsea against Manchester United and it's up to us. I'm not saying we will win that game 100% for sure, but it's a game (in April) that depends on us. Until then we have to be sure we win two more points than them."

Geordie-loving Ashley Cole said:

"Newcastle gave us a heck of a fright but this didn't surprise me. They are a good team even though my pals Michael Owen, Kieron Dyer and Titus Bramble were missing.

"Martins and Sibierski are coming into form and scoring goals, they have a great keeper in Shay Given and Steven Taylor is playing well.

"As a result we found it frustrating when we could not score. And we would be lying if we did not say we were getting a bit worried when we had not scored as the game neared the last quarter of an hour and we had to dig in deep.

"When we analyse the game and why it was so close it was a bit of the fact that we did not play well and that Newcastle United did."

No doubt Alex Ferguson would have loved it (just loved it) had we held out and wiped the smirk from the Smug One, but sadly for Fergie and birthday boy Roeder, it just wasn't to be.

We had been undone from inside our area early on back in March's cup tie here, but this time the similar knockout blow came late on. 

At least that allowed us to compete on something approaching a level playing field (actually a rutted, browning one) for well over an hour - not something we've done often here this century.  

A gallant effort here ultimately went unrewarded for the second time here in 2006, but at least this time the acrobatic antics of the home side were at least partly curbed, as the match officials were actually allowed to referee even-handedly and relatively unhindered. 

Despite taking a measure of pride from making this a contest though, the end result was the same, that nagging sense that it was always a case of "first goal wins" remaining - and we weren't going to get it.  

In previous times that's often been due to our mediocrity, meekness or something approaching a collective inferiority complex. 

But at least tonight none of those things were applicable - those who could still stand up and run around (plus Luque) were pressed into service and gave a decent enough account of themselves. 

No lack of guts or application then, just shortcomings in the finesse and finishing departments and a crossbar in the first half that Sibierski rattled - the nearest we've come to a goal here since Clarence Bloody Acuna.  

If we did enjoy any fortune in this contest, it was that Drogba wasn't deemed fit enough to start, meaning that what chances Chelsea did fashion fell at the feet of Kalou - who seems on this showing to be distantly related to the similarly wayward Nonda at Blackburn.

While we had little choice in our lineup and had to rely on greenhorns like Huntington to saddle the likes of Robben (very well as it happens), part of Chelsea's problem seemed to be their lopsided approach to things, with players in unfamiliar roles (Essien in defence?)

And until Drogba appeared, the most dangerous forward on the pitch was Martins - who is proving increasingly difficult to knock off the ball, assuming his first touch doesn't see him lose it. Quite simply there was no comparison with Wright-Phillips, who was dreadful.

One day the necessary elements of form, fortune and f*ck knows (Michael Owen?) what else will align and we'll walk out of here with something more tangible than a dented bank balance and a sore throat. 

Until then though we'll settle for sticking it up them in the Carling Cup next week. 

Next week's meeting of these two sides in that competition promises to be an interesting one - with a Newcastle side hopefully benefiting from the return of midfield reinforcements and with fire in their bellies to settle some scores - Duff and Parker especially. 

Something approaching a partisan crowd can also be expected for that Carling Cup tie, a far cry from the poseurs and passers-by who inhabit this corner of a capital city that appears to have come under siege from Eastern Europe - there were an awful lot of Roman's friends jabbering away as we wandered up from Parsons Green. 

Proof that we'd made our mark here tonight could be found when something approaching grudging praise from South-based scribes appeared in the Thursday papers. 

How inconvenient for them that they were once again unable to pen their obituaries, after those Northern monkeys impudently turned up complete with the spirit evident at West Ham and Arsenal. 

There comes a time that even the most blinkered cynic has to acknowledge that not every side we meet has an off night and that we must be doing something right. 

The same goes for some of our alleged followers, who weren't here but will be full moan alert at Gallowgate come Saturday. Try supporting the lads, rewarding endeavour with applause and putting a bit of effort in yourself. In short, prove you've got a bit more gumption than the SW6 slackjaws.

A game we thought we'd lose, we lost. But thankfully there was a bit more to it than that - even if it wasn't worth the monstrous £48 admission fee. I really do hate this place.

Biffa

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