Never mind the Newcastle crisis, the Chelsea one was nearly back on again here. Steve McClaren started this game as arguably the Premier League manager under most pressure following the reaction of Newcastle supporters to the tamest of exits from the first cup of the season. He came within 10 minutes of passing much of that burden on to José Mourinho, whose Chelsea side once again looked pallid and likely to slump to a fourth league defeat, before a remarkable late recovery left the home side hanging on just to earn a point.


Mourinho deserves some credit for his substitutions, for Ramires came on to pull the first goal back and was crucially involved in the equaliser, even if he failed to get anything on the Willian free kick that ended up in the back of Tim Krul’s net. Eden Hazard was the real spark of Chelsea’s fightback, however, and the travelling fans must have made their way home wondering why he, and their team in general, only showed any spark in the final few minutes.