Chelsea put in display to match flat atmosphere

SO OFTEN an occasion for celebration, Chelsea’s final home game of the season had all the atmosphere of a sombre wake.

This year there would no last minute bolt for the title, no celebratory showboating with silverware and when Steven Taylor denied the Blues victory with an added-time header, the mood was complete. The damage had been done a week earlier when Carlo Ancelotti’s side failed to beat Manchester United at Old Trafford, all but handing the title to Alex Ferguson’s side and, increasingly it seems, drawing a line under the manager’s prospects of retaining his job.

Ancelotti remains steadfast in his desire to see out the remaining 12 months of his contract owner Roman Abramovich is not known for his patience and last season’s success in steering the club to its first ever league and FA Cup double appears likely to count for little when set against this season’s failure to land a trophy. Ancelotti’s lap of honour alongside his players appeared more like a final farewell than a brief, summer send-off.

The consensus is the manager will be hard done to if he fails to keeps his job but the display against Newcastle summed up the frustrations that have devilled his side too often to sustain a meaningful title challenge that finally ended when Manchester United claimed the point they needed 24 hours previously.

Twice Chelsea took the lead, through Branislav Ivanovic and Alex, and twice they allowed Newcastle back into the contest courtesy of defensive errors. Failings at the back aren’t the sole reason Chelsea have struggled at times this season — problems exist in all areas of the team — but they have proved costly at vital moments.

Last week it was David Luiz who made the error that allowed Javier Hernandez to put United in front but this time, with the young Brazilian dropped to the bench, it was his replacement Alex whose underhit pass set in motion the chain of events that led to Ryan Taylor cancelling out Ivanovic’s second-minute opening goal with a deflected free kick.

Then, deep into added time, Steven Taylor was left unmarked on the edge of the six-yard box allowing the centre back to claim a point for Newcastle.

In between times Chelsea laboured to build on the start given them when Fernando Torres had flicked on Frank Lampard’s corner and Ivanovic reacted first to volley past Tim Krul from close range.

Not for the first time this season the Chelsea midfield lacked the drive and power the team had in spades when they were demolishing weaker opposition at the end of last season and the beginning of this.

Further forward Torres again laboured, an imposter wearing a £50 million suit.

The hope is the Spaniard will benefit from a summer of rest and recuperation and hit the ground running at the start of next season. Chelsea must hope so because right now he looks shot.

By contrast Newcastle looked like a side that has grown in confidence over the course of the season and while they hardly dominated proceedings, they didn’t lack belief and were more than happy to stand toe to toe with their opponents.

Defensively they were sound and after being given a slice of luck when Ryan Taylor’s 10th-minute free-kick ricocheted past Petr Cech via the back of Jonas Gutierrez, they were ready to make a game of it.

They may have had even more success had Tim Krul, the goalkeeper, not made a mess of coming for Lampard’s 83rd-minute free-kick, allowing Alex to head into an empty net and restore Chelsea’s lead before Steven Taylor killed off hopes of victory.

A game to forget after a season with few highs that will end at Everton next weekend. And after that game, Ancelotti will learn his fate.