Prem: Chelsea Downed As Arsenal, Newcastle Win
Newcastle new boy Moussa Sissoko scored twice to defeat Chelsea in the Premier League yesterday, as Arsenal greatly aided their pursuit of Champions League qualification with a hard-fought victory over Stoke City.
At the bottom of the table, QPR and Aston Villa both picked up draws - against Norwich and Everton respectively - but still saw the gap to safety grow after Reading grabbed a valuable win over Sunderland, while Southampton were forced to settle for a draw at Wigan and West Ham eased any pressure they were feeling with a win over Swansea.
Moussa Sissoko paid off a sizeable part of his transfer fee with a superb double to hand Newcastle a precious 3-2 victory over European champions Chelsea.
Sissoko scored the second goal of his fledgling Magpies career in injury time to secure a confidence-boosting victory, running onto Davide Santon’s cutback to complete a fairytale home debut as Alan Pardew’s side further dented Rafa Benitez’s Blues tenure. It was the home side that took the lead in the contest, as Jonas Gutierrez ghosted into the box just before half-time to perfectly meet Santon’s deep cross.
Chelsea subsequently thought they should have had a penalty - Demba Ba taking an unhealthy kick to the face from Fabricio Coloccini - but beyond that Benitez’s side created few openings for an equaliser until Lampard lashed home a trademark effort from long range effort; a strike seemingly conjured from nothing.
That fine goal seemed to embolden Chelsea, and not long after it was 2-1. Again, it was a goal of the highest class, but this time it was Juan Mata who produced it. The Spaniard gratefully received a deft flick from Fernando Torres, before turning and curling a 20-yard effort into the corner with his left foot.
That looked like propelling the visitors to victory - but Newcastle strengthened heavily in the January transfer window, and it was one of their new boys who brought them back into the game. Sissoko took the plaudits after his first goal for the club but in truth all he had to do was tap it in - after another new signing, Yoan Gouffran, saw his one-on-one opening initially denied by Petr Cech.
At the death, however, the former Toulouse enforcer deserved all the adulation he received. He still had plenty of work to do when Santon fed the ball back into his path inside the box, but made no mistake to drive the ball beyond Cech and send the crowd into raptures.
Aston Villa threw away a two-goal lead against Everton as Marouane Fellaini’s second of the match deep into added time denied the visitors a much-needed win and sealed a 3-3 draw.
For a long time it appeared Paul Lambert’s side would be celebrating their second surprise success on Merseyside, having beaten Liverpool in December. But Fellaini scored his second of the afternoon to add to Victor Anichebe’s first-half strike and cancel out Christian Benteke’s double and a goal from Gabriel Agbonlahor.
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