Chelsea 2 Newcastle Utd 1:This game had lurched beyond the hour when Avram Grant was treated to a first bellowed chorus of "You don't know what you're doing" from the home partisans. Sam Allardyce, standing in the visitors' dugout as the chant echoed around the arena, might have suppressed a shudder of recognition at the familiarity of the abuse.
This was a role reversal for these two managers. The vitriol directed at the dugout has been delivered with a Geordie twang in recent weeks. Yet on Saturday the visitors were resilient and effective, qualities usually recognised in Chelsea, with the unrest reserved for the hosts. The substitutions of Joe Cole and Michael Ballack provoked furious reactions. Grant could point to an injury to the former and the latter's lack of match practice but the supporters had revealed simmering frustrations.
The sour mood probably reflected a horror of history repeating itself at a critical stage of the season. A year ago a flurry of draws amid a deepening injury crisis cost Chelsea their title. The locals, leading through Michael Essien's tap-in, had witnessed a side stripped of its core performers here ship an unlikely equaliser, Nicky Butt bundling Charles N'Zogbia's cross over the line.
With Manchester United leading at West Ham at the time, the majority feared the worst. Unlike Jose Mourinho last year, however, the Israeli ended up benefiting from a timely if outrageous decision that has put his side back into the race.
Allardyce might have expected a twist this cruel. His side had held their own through the second period when, three minutes from time, Mikel John Obi's shot deflected off Claudio Pizarro - the controversial substitutes combining - and into the path of Salomon Kalou. The striker was at least two yards offside as he prodded in the winner, yet the assistant referee, Mike Cairns, blanked the protests at the award. He was, said Allardyce, gripped by "blind fear".
"This is the kind of luck I want when we play shit," conceded Grant.
It was not the kind of fortune Newcastle deserved. The manager's position remains in some jeopardy, though this display was encouraging. Much will hinge on next weekend's FA Cup tie at Stoke.
In the circumstances the concession of a ludicrous late winner was distinctly unwelcome. "Sometimes it does maybe feel like the fates conspiring against us," said Allardyce.
His players were awarded a standing ovation from the travelling support, clearly encouraged by a committed performance.
Obafemi Martins might have opened the scoring in the first half and Shay Given was outstanding throughout. This was a second-string Chelsea side but the returns of Michael Owen and Damien Duff bode well. Grant must crave the sight of his walking wounded breaking back into a jog.
Florent Malouda had been due to return here but succumbed to a relapse of his knee complaint in the side's last training session. He could be absent for another month now, joining six other first-teamers in the treatment room. Both Chelsea's scorers here will depart for the African Cup of Nations next week. It promises to be e a busy January for Grant with incoming transfers.
