Chelsea 1 Newcastle 1

By Phil Casey, PA Sport

The width of a post denied Newcastle their first win of the season after a pulsating battle at Stamford Bridge.

Celestine Babayaro put the home side in front after 24 minutes with his first ever goal for the club after Stuart Pearce had cleared Gustavo Poyet's effort off the line.

But former AC Milan striker Andreas Andersson brought the visitors level after 43 minutes following a slip from Michael Duberry.

And Andersson's striking partner Alan Shearer was inches away from claiming all three points with 20 minutes left, beating Ed De Goey from 12 yards only to see his shot rebound off the inside of the far post.

Chelsea also had chances to win it in a frenetic finish, Poyet's header landing on the roof of the net and Shay Given pulling off a superb one-handed save from the influential Zola.

But in the end the spoils were shared with Newcastle manager Kenny Dalglish probably the happier man with his side's display.

Blues boss Gianluca Vialli had made two changes from the team that disappointed at Highfield Road last week, dropping himself to the bench in favour of Gianfranco Zola with Michael Duberry in for the suspended Dennis Wise.

The change in personal also brought about a change in formation, Desailly switching from centre-half to a position just in front of the back four, a position many considered his most effective at Milan.

And for the opening half hour the switch certainly had the desired effect, the Blues looking much more alert than they had at Highfield Road.

There they had been 2-0 down with barely a quarter of an hour gone but today the only notable incident the visitors could muster was the booking of Alessandro Pistone for a dive after 17 minutes.

At the other end Zola was at the heart of the Blues' best moves, setting up Di Matteo but his international team-mate who could only fire straight at Shay Given in the Newcastle goal.

Poyet proved last week that he knew the way to goal and again he proved considerably more accurate than Di Matteo to help put Chelsea in front after 24 minutes.

Zola's through ball put Poyet clear in the penalty area and although Pearce cleared his goal-bound effort off the line Babayaro was on hand to stab home the rebound from six yards.

The finish could have been more memorable for his first goal for the Blues but the celebration more than made up for it, a double back flip on the right touchline in front of the celebrating Chelsea fans.

The home faithful sat and waited for the flood of goals to come but Chelsea failed to capitalise on their hard won advantage and they were made to pay dearly.

Just three minutes before the interval Shearer made up for an uncharacteristic earlier miss - scuffing a shot wide - with a superb header across the area that deceived Duberry in the air to allow Andersson round the back.

And the former Milan striker took his chance with aplomb, beating the advancing De Goey with a right foot shot into the far corner.

The home side had in fact begun to look vulnerable at the back earlier, De Goey punching clear off Speed's head following Andersson's header at a corner and Dabizas allowed space to get a diving header to Watson's cross after 38 minutes.

Vialli was no doubt glad of the half time whistle for the chance to settle his players and whatever he said at half-time clearly had the desired effect and Chelsea started the second half at break-neck speed.

A delightful succession of short sharp passes ended with Babayaro playing a neat 1-2 with Di Matteo who unleashed a shot from the edge of the area that Given could only palm away before the ball was hacked clear.

From the resulting corner Le Saux then went close, a flashing drive from 25 yards that flew just over, an effort matched at the other end by Dietmar Hamann with a swerving free-kick.

Zola then forced the save of the match from Given, a one-handed diving effort to push away a stinging drive after the Italian had been set clear by substitute Dan Petrescu.

Shearer and Duberry then received a yellow card each as Mr Rennie lost patience with their running battle after 52 minutes.

Poyet went close with a header onto the roof of the net but his replacement Flo had little impact as the match headed for a draw.

Shearer almost had the last laugh however with his 71st minute effort that struck the post although he will need a lot better service if Newcastle are to avoid another disappointing season.

Teams

Chelsea: Ed De Goey, Babayaro, Leboeuf, Desailly, Poyet (Flo 73), Casiraghi, Duberry, Le Saux (Petrescu 58), Di Matteo, Ferrer, Zola.

Subs Not Used: Hitchcock, Lambourde, Newton.

Booked: Duberry, Leboeuf, Casiraghi.

Goals: Babayaro 23.

Newcastle: Given, Watson, Charvet, Pearce, Pistone (Albert 67), Lee, Hamann, Dabizas, Speed, Andersson (Solano 67), Shearer.

Subs Not Used: Howey, Perez, Ketsbaia.

Booked: Pistone, Shearer.

Goals: Andersson 43.

Att: 34,795

Ref: U Rennie (Sheffield).