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Your support makes all the difference.Chelsea lifted the inaugural FA Premier League Asia Cup here yesterday, beating Newcastle in a sudden-death penalty shoot-out after the final ended goalless.
With Chelsea leading 5-4, Jermaine Jenas missed the crucial spot-kick. The Newcastle midfielder tried to chip Carlo Cudicini, but his effort floated high over the bar. The 20-year-old was left with his head in his hands and Sir Bobby Robson with that familiar feeling of losing a penalty shoot-out.
Sir Bobby described Jenas's miss as "outrageous and unprofessional" after the England midfielder's chip over the crossbar. "It was an outrageous way to try and take a penalty," he said. "He's young and for some reason he has gone against all his education and all his practice to try and do something different and he has come unstuck from that. He has to learn from that and I have told him that."
A superb save from Shay Given, plus a little help from the post, had kept out Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, and Craig Bellamy's conversion then tied the scores at 3-3 after Newcastle missed their first two penalties. Frank Lampard put Chelsea ahead before Alan Shearer struck the bar and Laurent Robert's effort was saved by Cudicini.
In between, Given kept out Damien Duff, diving to his right, so when Robert Huth blasted his penalty into the roof of the net, Chelsea led 2-0. Kieron Dyer converted his effort, but so did Eidur Gudjohnsen before Lee Bowyer, booed as he strode into the area, placed his shot into Cudicini's left-hand corner.
Hasselbaink had the chance to win it at 3-2 but the Newcastle keeper guessed right, the ball spilling out of his grasp and hitting the post before rolling out. Bellamy, Joe Keenan, Jonathan Woodgate and John Terry all then converted before Jenas' chip sailed over.
The two sides had fought out an exciting, but goalless, 90 minutes in which Chelsea appeared the more dangerous. Hasselbaink and Gudjohnsen linked cleverly in attack, but Given was in top form and pulled off a magnificent save to deny Lampard from 25 yards in the second half.
It was not all one-way traffic, though, with Newcastle threatening in the first half through Shola Ameobi. Robson, who started with Carl Cort and Ameobi up front introduced his first-choice attack at the interval, but Bellamy nor Shearer could make the most of their chances.
Chelsea, who remained unchanged, continued to dominate. Glen Johnson saw a cross almost catch out Given, who had to be alert to turn the ball over his crossbar. Soon after, Given's headed clearance under pressure from Gudjohnsen eventually dropped for Boudewijn Zenden to lob just wide of an empty net.
As Chelsea continued to dominate, Jesper Gronkjaer appealed optimistically for a penalty as he tumbled under Andy O'Brien's challenge, though had he stayed on his feet he would have been presented with a tap-in as Given and O'Brien got in a muddle.
The Chelsea manager, Claudio Ranieri, introduced Duff with 10 minutes remaining, but despite the audible expectation of the crowd each time he got possession, the Irish winger could not force the breakthrough.
Birmingham finished third in the tournament after beating Malaysia 4-0 on Saturday.
Newcastle United: Given; Hughes, O'Brien, Woodgate, Bernard; Solano, Speed, Jenas, Viana; Cort, Ameobi. Substitutes: Harper, Griffin, Dyer, Shearer, Bellamy, Chopra, Bowyer, Caldwell, Ambrose, Bramble, Robert.
Chelsea: Cudicini; Johnson, Terry, Huth, Bridge; Gronkjaer, Lampard, Nicolas, Zenden; Hasselbaink, Gudjohnsen. Substitutes: Ambrosio, Melchiot, Kneissl, Duff, Forssell, Kitamarike, Keenan, Cole.
Referee: A D'Urso (Billericay).
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