Newcastle 0-3 Chelsea - Extended match highlights

Extended video highlights, or lowlights if you prefer, of our rather harsh 3-0 loss against Chelsea yesterday for you now.

I say it was harsh because we didn't deserve to lose 3-0. Yes Chelsea scored three and we scored none, but on another day we could have had four and Chelsea would have had to play with ten men for 87 minutes. Incidentally two of their three goals came when we were playing with ten men after Steven Taylor hobbled off with what looks to be a serious Achilles injury.

However lets not kid ourselves. On another day they could have had more goals aswell, with Daniel Sturridge giving Ryan Taylor a torrid time for the bulk of the match. By my reckoning Sturridge got through on Taylor's side no less than four times in the first half only to be thwarted by a combination of Tim Krul's fine form and some coolness from Captain calm Fabricio Coloccini.

Speaking of Tim Krul, he played another blinder yesterday. I can't help but think that we are blessed to have him between the sticks and his performance yesterday reminded me of Shay Given against Liverpool a couple of seasons ago. Hopefully their isn't the same outcome at the end of it!

Another player I thought played well was James Perch. I'll admit I was nervous when he came on, but not as nervous as I used to be as he's not put a foot wrong for some time now. I'm actually at the point of not being overly worried about him playing against Norwich. Yes Drogba beat him easily in the air, but the organisation from that throw in was poor from the start and Drogba has made better defenders than Perch look amateur over the years.

With our three games again the top sides out of the way, and a point to show for it, we can move on to a run of somewhat easier fixtures. I mean no disrespect to teams like Norwich, Swansea, West Brom and Bolton, but I think even their own fans will admit that they aren't exactly at the level of the Manchester sides or Chelsea.

It's in these next few games where we can hopefully start to pick up points again, although with injuries starting to mount up one has to wonder whether or not we can manage to get back on track in the near future?

Time will tell I guess...