Drogba senses tide is turning

DESPITE his unflappable image, Andre Villas-Boas must have feared that life as Chelsea manager would deteriorate further just minutes into his visit to Tyneside.

After a midweek defeat to Liverpool in the Carling Cup and confirmation that transfer requests from Nicolas Anelka and Brazilian Alex had been accepted, David Luiz should have been red carded for pulling down Newcastle United’s Demba Ba with less than four minutes gone. Instead, the inconsistent Luiz survived with a booking. While Alan Pardew, the Newcastle manager, was incensed along with 50,000 angry Geordies, Villas-Boas breathed a sigh of relief.

Not only did Luiz grow in confidence but the Chelsea manager also witnessed his team go on to secure a victory he hopes will act as the spark to the season the Blues have been hoping for.

With a do-or-die qualifier in the Champions League Group E pencilled in for tomorrow night at Stamford Bridge against Valencia, Didier Drogba, the scorer of the opening goal on Saturday, senses it could be. “You could say we looked more like the Chelsea of old,” said Drogba. “We go into the Valencia game confident. It is going to be very exciting. Yes the pressure is on us but this is why people love football. I like that intensity.”

A clean sheet or a victory would suffice against Valencia, otherwise Chelsea will be out of the Champions League before Christmas for the first time.

But Drogba’s headed opener from Juan Mata’s teasing centre seven minutes before half time at St James’ Park seemed to give them the lift they needed.

Had it not been for Newcastle goalkeeper Tim Krul, Chelsea would have been out of sight long before Salomon Kalou and Daniel Sturridge wrapped up the victory with two goals in the closing stages.

Newcastle can feel hard done by with the Luiz decision, while they also went close on a number of occasions themselves, but Chelsea deserved a second Premier League win in a row.

Villas-Boas, whose side also face leaders Manchester City next weekend when they are looking to close a 10-point gap, said: “It will only be a big week if we progress against Valencia.”

Could the Newcastle result be the turning point? “Well you never know,” he said. “With another win we would set the right tone for the game against Manchester City and hopefully it will work out like that.”

It is also a crucial week for Newcastle. They face an anxious wait to see how long Steven Taylor, who has ruptured his Achilles, will be out, while skipper Fabricio Coloccini also picked up a thigh problem.

After picking up just a point from dates with City, Manchester United and now Chelsea, Newcastle have lost their grip on fourth ahead of this Saturday’s long trip to Norwich City.

“There’s a big feeling of disappointment,” said Pardew. “We are really short, so we go to Norwich and the next three games are winnable for us.

“We’ve got to approach those with the players we’ve got available and try to win them. If we win those we could find ourselves back in the top four and that’s what we want to try and do.”

Newcastle went closest to a goal when substitute Shola Ameobi hit the bar, but he was realistic about the outcome.

Ameobi said: “I think the keeper thought it was in because he hasn’t moved,

“The good thing was that in the second half we took the game to them. We didn’t really feel that we had control of the game in the first half, and wanted to get back to the way we have been all season — which is going after teams.

“We did that well and a couple of inches here or there and we’d have probably got an equaliser. But it wasn’t to be and when you’re playing against quality opposition like that, they’re always going to punish you.”