A Jonas Gutierrez goal has given struggling Newcastle United a 1-0 lead over Chelsea at half time of their Premier League match this afternoon.
The first chance of the match fell to Frank Lampard after Juan Mata and Ashley Cole had combined to set up the England international, but his volley flew well over the bar.
Oscar found space to shoot for the visitors soon after having linked up with Mata, but the Brazilian could not find the target with his effort.
Yohan Cabaye responded with a shot of his own, letting fly from distance only to see Petr Cech comfortably gather.
Demba Ba came within inches of scoring against his old club just after the half-hour mark when he latched on to a Lampard pass. The Senegalese striker saw his first effort parried by Tim Krul, but he could only header the rebound just wide of an empty net.
The hosts then enjoyed a golden chance of their own as Cabaye's effort was unintentionally controlled by Papiss Cisse, who found himself through on goal but unable to beat Cech.
Newcastle did take the lead five minutes before the break, however, as Gutierrez rose above John Terry to head Davide Santon's cross into the net.
Barney Corkhill
