Sweet ... Newcastle's Moussa Sissoko celebrates his winner against Chelsea. Source: AP
Moussa Sissoko marked his home debut with a last-minute winner as Newcastle United came from behind to beat Chelsea 3-2 in a thrilling game at St James' Park.
Jonas Gutierrez's header had given Newcastle a half-time lead, but Chelsea hit back to go in front through two excellent finishes from Frank Lampard and Juan Mata.
However, Chelsea's recent fallibility when in front came back to haunt them again as Sissoko equalised midway through the second half before the January signing drilled home from the edge of the box to give Newcastle back-to-back wins.
Newcastle manager Alan Pardew was full of praise for Sissoko and hailed the win as their "game of the season".
| P | W | D | L | GD | Pts | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Man United | 25 | 20 | 2 | 3 | 29 | 62 |
| 2 | Man City | 24 | 15 | 7 | 2 | 26 | 52 |
| 3 | Chelsea | 25 | 13 | 7 | 5 | 24 | 46 |
| 4 | Tottenham | 24 | 12 | 6 | 6 | 12 | 42 |
| 5 | Everton | 25 | 10 | 12 | 3 | 10 | 42 |
| 6 | Arsenal | 25 | 11 | 8 | 6 | 20 | 41 |
| 7 | Liverpool | 24 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 12 | 35 |
| 8 | Swansea | 25 | 8 | 10 | 7 | 6 | 34 |
| 9 | West Brom | 24 | 10 | 4 | 10 | 0 | 34 |
| 10 | Stoke | 25 | 6 | 12 | 7 | -6 | 30 |
| 11 | West Ham | 25 | 8 | 6 | 11 | -8 | 30 |
| 12 | Sunderland | 25 | 7 | 8 | 10 | -5 | 29 |
| 13 | Fulham | 25 | 7 | 7 | 11 | -6 | 28 |
| 14 | Norwich | 25 | 6 | 10 | 9 | -15 | 28 |
| 15 | Newcastle | 25 | 7 | 6 | 12 | -11 | 27 |
| 16 | Southampton | 25 | 5 | 9 | 11 | -11 | 24 |
| 17 | Reading | 25 | 5 | 8 | 12 | -14 | 23 |
| 18 | Wigan | 25 | 5 | 6 | 14 | -18 | 21 |
| 19 | Aston Villa | 25 | 4 | 9 | 12 | -26 | 21 |
| 20 | QPR | 25 | 2 | 11 | 12 | -19 | 17 |
Pardew believes the performance of the France international midfielder, a January signing from Toulouse, spoke for itself.
"The whole team was magnificent but it would be silly to ignore the fact that Sissoko announced his presence in the game, not just with his technical quality but his power. It's been something that's been missing from the team," Pardew said.
"I don't have to say too much - his performance spoke for itself."
Asked if he had seen a better home debut, Pardew said: "Not perhaps since I've been here."
Pardew was delighted with the result, which marks back-to-back wins for Newcastle as they look to turn their season around and move up the table.
"It was undoubtedly the game of the season," he said.
"I don't think we're going to better that between now and the end. It was a fabulous game. It's a massive win for us today."
Chelsea boss Rafael Benitez believes his side should have been given a penalty and Fabricio Coloccini deserved a red card after Demba Ba was left with a broken nose.
Coloccini's boot make contact with Ba's face as he went to head a rebounded shot in the box, but referee Howard Webb did not take action.
The Senegal international, returning to his former club for the first time since joining Chelsea, received lengthy treatment on the touchline and returned to action briefly with a bandaged face before he was substituted for Fernando Torres.
"We couldn't change the situation of Demba Ba. That was a penalty and a red card for me. It changed the game. We lost one player with a broken nose and used one substitution," he said.
"After watching the replay it's very clear. A player with his nose broken and bleeding for five minutes is good evidence.
"I have a lot of respect for them (referees) but it is just the decision that is wrong."
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