Cisse Stars, But Don't Forget The Defense

Papiss Cisse was the match winner.

But you'd be hard pressed to find a better defensive performance than the one Newcastle United put together in Wednesday's 2-0 win over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. Consider this: For all of Chelsea's dominance in possession (63.4 percent to 36.6 percent) and passing (the home side completed 460 of 549 - 84 percent - compared to 225 of 309 - 73 percent - for Newcastle), Roman Abramovich's playthings mustered a whopping three shots on goal. Or, one fewer than Newcastle.

And of those three shots on goal, only one - the John Terry header that Davide Santon headed off the line - was what you'd call threatening. Santon, Fabricio Coloccini, Mike Williamson and James Perch all produced high-grade performances in Newcastle's backline. Perch continues to look like a different player in 2012, while Santon had probably his best game as a United player. Williamson has been criticized plenty this season and, while he still clearly has limitations as a player, he was tremendous in this game, winning balls in the air and showing off his foot skills in attack.

It was by no means a perfect performance by Newcastle. United's willingness to sit deep in the second half gave Chelsea complete control of the game (Cheick Tiote's departure thanks to a flying elbow from John Obi Mikel only worsened the situation). But Newcastle refused to crumble, showing the kind of resilience that has typified United's season. It's why the club was able to recover from Saturday's implosion at Wigan, a loss that gave Newcastle every excuse to coast for the season's final three games.

And it's why Newcastle's unlikely Champions League hopes are still alive with two games to go.

Comments

[Gate13Dave]

Chelsea fan in peace- well played, only saw the highlights yesterday but those goals deserve to win any game.

Hope you go onto get top 4 finish - ideally 3rd giving us a chance to see both Sp*rs & Arsenal miss out on the CL next season!

I just wish our player buying department was half as effective as yours.

[JeffC]

I watched the match only after following on ESPN gamecast and then reading the match report. I could still only shake my head in astonishment as Cisse scored two amazing goals! Williamson was out of his mind yesterday. I wholeheartedly agree that it may have been one Mike's best performances. Not once did I curse his name yesterday. Waiting on a report for Tiote. But Terry, Ivanovic and Mikel are just dirty.

[Mathew]

One of the best goals I've seen. Easily the best of the season! Newcastle can still squeeze into 4th or even 3rd. Arsenal isn't ahead by 4 or 5 they have 1 point on Newcastle and Spurs. Sunday at St James' is going to be like a cup final game with home supporters. Last home game, fans will be well up for it and with CL a real possibility along with just wanting to thank the team, City has a lot on its hands. Just need Spurs or the Gooners to drop a game and we're in!!

[Zack]

Tiote will be ready to go on Sunday. He just got a gash on his head and needed stitches. He actually said that he wanted to stay in the game, but they wouldn't let him.

[Dave From Newcastle]

Is it Sunday yet?

I absolutely cannot wait for this match. Tremendous performance yesterday. I still have faith that Spurs will drop at least 2 points, so top 4 can be in our own hands. Lets get it done, HWTL!

[Jaeger]

great performance against chelsea. i thought both of our strikers played well (and shola for tht wonderfully placed assist for cisse)

midfield continues to impress. we did seem to give up a lot more posession once tiote was gone, thought pards would move up perch into midfield and raylor at RB. thought krul had a couple shaky moments.. especially on a corner where he came out and misjudged it and fell on his keester.

cant wait for the city match. it will take at least 4 points to get us 4th. 6 will guarentee that. dont see tottenham not winning one of these. it would be a shame if we cant make it to CL.

[Ryan]

What an incredible performance against Chelsea. So proud of the team! And that Cisse goal is the best I have ever seen. The last two games will be tough, but if we play like we can vs. City, we definitely can win. Same for Everton. 6 points to finish the season would be great, but I would also take 4 (and a Bayern win in the UCL Final of course). Howay!

[Mathew]

Not sure about 6 points guaranteeing anything. We still need Spurs and/ or Arsenal to drop at least 2 points. I really hope it comes down to the last game of the season for both the title, the 3rd and 4th spot and the last relegation - it'll make for a great day at the pub!