Chelsea 2 Newcastle Utd 1: Allardyce up in arms as lucky Chelsea accept late present

Newcastle may be the club with a player in custody, but it was Chelsea who got out of jail in this game, breaking what appeared an inevitable deadlock. As if Newcastle did not have enough problems already, they were robbed of the draw they deserved and which would have given a lift to an otherwise bleak holiday period.

With three minutes left Newcastle were under the cosh, but surviving with perhaps unexpected confidence. Then Jon Mikel Obi had a flail at goal and the ball deflected off the substitute Claudio Pizarro to the feet of Salomon Kalou, at least two yards offside. He put the chance away comfortably, but the award of a goal by the referee Mike Riley sparked fury from Newcastle's players and bench.

Riley consulted the linesman, Mike Cairns, who mystifyingly had spotted no offence. The "goal" stood and manager Sam Allardyce had to be restrained by the fourth official as he verbally laid into Cairns. Afterwards the Newcastle manager said, "It was one of those decisions I wouldn't mind getting myself into trouble with, but I don't want to part with my money.

"But it hurts everybody at Newcastle that a result has been taken away from us by an assistant referee who got his decision horribly wrong."

Allardyce put the error down to what he termed "blind fear", in terms of making a crucial decision on Chelsea's home ground. "I think his arm froze. It it the worst decision [against us] this year. There will be no excuses from him when he sees it again. He can't hide," he said.

The Chelsea manager Avram Grant did his best, with an unaccustomed small smile, to avoid condemning the score which sealed victory for his team, opting to comment that he had not yet seen a replay of the incident. But he claimed Chelsea had wasted enough chances to have won comfortably.

Not quite true. Newcastle played with spirit, even flashes of style. Nicky Butt laboured mightily in midfield, Damien Duff livened up the attack, Obafemi Martins ran menacingly up front and, as ever, Shay Given proved an inspired barrier in goal. Chelsea, with a list of injuries and suspensions, may have been short of a star or two, but were still able to field an intimidating side. Sadly, they rarely played to that potential.

Michael Ballack, captain for the day, showed the occasional touch of brilliance, albeit at his own pace, Shaun Wright-Phillips was a top-speed threat on the right and Joe Cole had Newcastle in trouble at times. But not often enough to satisfy a querulous home crowd, who booed when Cole was replaced by Pizarro just past the hour and launched into an anti-Grant chorus of "You don't know what you're doing" when he sent on Scott Sinclair for Ballack. "I have no complaints against the supporters," Grant insisted. "They know we don't have easy times with 10 injuries."

It appeared easy times were on the horizon when Michael Essien scored short of the half-hour. Juliano Belletti's long throw provoked consternation in the Newcastle penalty area, Wright-Phillips unleashed a shot which rattled off assorted bodies and fell invitingly for Essien to turn past Given.

But the eagerness of Martins, who saw one shot painfully blocked by Tal Ben Haim and another narrowly clear the bar, ensured Chelsea were never comfortable with the lead. It was an advantage they might have doubled early in the second half when Butt, lashing out at a Wright-Phillips centre, sent the ball inches over his own bar, but after 55 minutes Newcastle pulled level.

Charles N'Zogbia got away from Mikel with ease on the left and laid the ball into the goalmouth. Martins made only marginal contact, but enough to see the ball bounce over the line off Wayne Bridge. Michael Owen, out for six weeks, then replaced Martins, but the score which decided it did not go their way.

As for Joey Barton, in prison in Liverpool facing an allegation of assault, Allardyce said, "It is something we have to put behind us because we have so many games coming up. We will deal with it later. I am disappointed."