Chelsea lost their final league game of the 2005-2006 Premiership season to a spirited Newcastle side.
The fact that the outcome had no influence on the final table position for the visiting side doesn’t make the bitter pill any easier to swallow. Indeed, instead of setting a new Premiership record of thirty wins in a season we somehow contrived to lose two Premiership games on the trot, a first for Mourinho in his reign as Chelsea manager.
With the team devoid of several star names, I guess that there was always the chance that things could go a little pear-shaped. Indeed, with the heart ripped from the team it gave Mourinho the chance to give several of the squads fringe players a run out. For some, it may well have proved to be their last appearances in a Chelsea shirt. With Lampard and Terry absent, William Gallas was afforded the honour of captaining the side.
For two players, namely, Michael Mancienne and Jimmy Smith, it was a rare outing with the first team squad. However, for Lenny Pidgeley the afternoon was to prove a memorable one. Originally destined to spend the afternoon on the bench, Lenny had to be drafted into the starting eleven when the unlucky Carlo Cudicini turned an ankle in the pre-match warm up.
With Chelsea 6-5 on with the bookmakers to win, the odds of 15-8 for a home win looked interesting to say the least.
The first half was a subdued affair with Newcastle, cheered on by a crowd in excess of fifty thousand, peppering the Chelsea goal with shot but not being able to get a solitary one on target. Indeed, the best action of the half saw Arjen Robben go on a mazy run, beating four defenders, before dragging his shot wide.
Just past the half-hour mark, Duff delivered a decent corner, which Huth rose to head powerfully towards goal, somehow Cole contrived to deflect it wide and the opportunity to take the lead had gone. Sadly for Newcastle, Solano who had an inspiring first thirty minutes was forced to limp off to be replaced by Boumsong.
As half time approached Chelsea had another opportunity to open the scoring. Diarra found Duff and with Cole waiting, unmarked in the middle, the Irishman chose to shoot instead of passing and Given was able to make an easy save.
It had been a disappointing first half and Chelsea, with no natural striker, looked to be lacking that killer punch up front.
The second half started with Mourinho introducing Wright-Phillips and Carlton Cole in place of Huth and Duff. The switch gave Chelsea a far more potent attacking edge and Chelsea began to get a decent foothold in the game. Unfortunately, luck was not to be on our side and as two goals were to fall victim to the offside flag.
The first came when a Robben free kick was flicked on by Carvalho for Gallas to net at the far post and the second came when Cole found Maniche and the Portuguese international saw his shot come back off the post for Wright-Phillips to net.
In between Babayaro received a yellow card for a cynical trip on Robben as the Dutch winger looked like escaping his clutches. In all honesty, it should have been a straight red card.
With luck not on our side it came as no surprise when Newcastle took the lead, on seventy-three minutes, through a Titus Bramble volley. The home crowd sensing that European qualification through the Intertoto Cup upped the noise levels even more.
A minute later, they almost took the roof of St James Park when Stephen Carr received a straight red card for a foul on Diarra. It appeared that Carr, after fouling Diarra then proceed to stamp on his chest.
A man to the good Chelsea tried to engineer that vital half chance that might give them a point, sadly it was not to be. Jimmy Smith replaced the unfortunate Carvalho, who suffered a head wound, but not even the presence of an extra forward could salvage a point.
Pidgeley 5, Ferreira 6, Huth 5 (Wright-Phillips 6), Carvalho 6 (Smith 5), Gallas 6, Johnson 5, Diarra 7, Maniche 7, Robben 6, J.Cole 6, Duff 5 (C.Cole 5)
Manager Rating
Mourinho – Nice to see the Special One keep a smile on his face despite, once again, falling foul of some bad decisions. The two offside goals maybe but the penalty that got away and the decision not to red card Babayaro for the blatant trip on Robben certainly riled Mourinho. Joked that he should have extended his trip to Brazil instead of returning for this fixture. He’ll certainly be a little miffed about finishing the season with two successive defeats.
Opponent Rating
Roeder – Gave Freddie Shepherd what he craved – European football, albeit via the Intertoto Cup that’ll mean an early start for the Geordie boys this summer. Whether he’ll be around to manage Newcastle seemingly depends on how the other Premiership chairmen vote on his situation. All we’ll say is that rules are rules unless you happen to be Liverpool!