Newcastle United 0 Chelsea 1

By Damian Spellman, PA Sport

Newcastle United's bid to prove that they can still mix it with the Premiership's big boys wilted and died as Dan Petrescu clinched three points for Chelsea.

The Romanian struck against the run of play 38 minutes into a first-half which United had dominated, only the bar denying them a lead through Gary Speed's 27th-minute volley.

But Gianluca Vialli's men, many assembled by Gullit during his days at Stamford Bridge, took everything the home side could throw at them before launching a series of counter attacks which could have increased the margin of victory to a more comfortable level.

They had keeper Ed De Goey to thank for keeping them in the game in the early stages, with saves from Dietmar Hamann and Gary Speed.

But although Newcastle should be delighted with their first-half display, Gullit will have been disappointed with the way they ran out of steam.

The Dutchman, never one to shy away from radical changes, handed 20-year-old Didier Domi a Premiership debut in place of the desperately unfortunate Warren Barton, who turned in perhaps his best performance to date in a Newcastle shirt against Crystal Palace last week.

Steve Howey returned for Nikos Dabizas at the heart of the United defence, but with skipper Rob Lee included only among the substitutes, there was a place in the starting line-up for Didier Hamann, who this week reportedly hit out at his lack of first-team chances.

Vialli had little chance but to include himself in attack with Tore Andre Flo missing through injury.

Gullit's side lost both their Premiership games during the Christmas period, but the manager felt his side had been unfortunate to come away pointless.

And they lived up to their billing as they took the game to Chelsea from the off.

De Goey pulled off good saves from Hamann and Speed within the first two minutes as United's attacking 3-4-3 formation took the visitors by surprise.

Frank Leboeuf had to rescue his keeper three minutes later after Andreas Andersson shot towards goal on the turn.

With the under-pressure Hamann competing well in central midfield and former Paris St Germain defender Domi enjoying an impressive debut, United seemed in complete control, only the efforts of De Goey, Michael Duberry and Leboeuf keeping them out.

But there was little they could do on 27 minutes when Stephen Glass, pushed into an auxiliary striking role, beat off Marcel Desailly's challenge.

The ball fell nicely for Speed, and his instinctive volley looked to be heading for the top corner until De Goey got the slightest of touches to deflect it on to the crossbar.

It seemed only a matter of time before Newcastle took a deserved lead, but when the first goal came seven minutes before the break, it was decidedly against the run of play.

Dennis Wise found space down the Chelsea left and crossed towards the hard-working Vialli at the near post.

The Italian was unable to get a touch, but the ball ran to Petrescu, who hammered a close-range volley past the helpless Shay Given to silence the home crowd.

Alan Shearer went close to restoring parity within two minutes when his free-kick deflected off the defensive wall and ran just wide, but it was with a great sense of injustice that United left the field on the half-time whistle.

United were back on the attack just two minutes after the restart when De Goey had to go full length to keep out another Hamann free-kick, and Andersson went just wide with a glancing header on 51 minutes.

But while Gullit's side always had the better of the possession, they never really made the most of it as the visitors closed ranks to preserve their lead.

Indeed, it was Vialli's side who created the best chances as they broke swiftly on the break through Petrescu and Di Matteo. Newcastle's failure to deal with one such attack on 57 minutes left Given facing a duel with Di Matteo - and he lived to tell the tale.

Aaron Hughes was fortunate to get away with a pull on Vialli's shirt which was punished by a yellow rather than red card, and Given again had to dive in bravely at Di Matteo's feet on 66 minutes after Petrescu had broken down the right.

Wise should have wrapped it up for Chelsea 18 minutes from time when he shot weakly straight at the keeper after Petrescu played him in.

The Magpies continued to hammer away at Chelsea, but even with the fresh legs of substitute Louis Saha, were never really able to create any clear opportunities.

Vialli had a great chance to double his side's lead in the 87th-minute, but in truth, Chelsea rarely looked like surrendering their points.

Teams

Newcastle: Given, Domi, Howey, Speed, Hamann, Charvet, Glass, Solano (Lee 72), Hughes, Andersson (Saha 57), Shearer.

Subs Not Used: Harper, Barton, Dabizas.

Booked: Hughes.

Chelsea: De Goey, Petrescu, Ferrer, Leboeuf, Duberry, Le Saux, Desailly, Wise, Di Matteo, Zola (Nicholls 88), Vialli.

Subs Not Used: Hitchcock, Goldbaek, Terry, Morris.

Booked: Le Saux, Desailly, Ferrer.

Goals: Petrescu 39.

Att: 36,711

Ref: D Gallagher (Banbury).