Chelsea have moved back to the top of the Premier League table after beating Newcastle United 2-0 at Stamford Bridge this afternoon.
Fernando Torres acted as Chelsea's provider during the opening stages, setting up chances for John Obi Mikel, who fired his off target, and Ryan Bertrand, who forced a save from Tim Krul.
It was Torres who caused problems for the visitors again after 22 minutes, and this time it led to a goal. The Spaniard went down in the box under the challenge of Vurnon Anita, and the referee pointed to the spot. Eden Hazard stepped up and made no mistake.
Branislav Ivanovic then tested Krul before Newcastle enjoyed two chances in quick succession. First Papiss Cisse found the head of Demba Ba, but the latter could only direct his effort over, and then Danny Simpson caught David Luiz in possession, feeding Cisse whose powerful strike was well saved by Petr Cech.
The Blues doubled their lead in the second minute of first-half injury time as Torres poked his shot past Krul.
Newcastle almost responded after just three minutes of the second half when the ball fell to Hatem Ben Arfa inside the box, but the Frenchman snatched at the chance and sent his shot wide.
The Magpies got another good chance to grab a goal back with just over 20 minutes remaining when Ryan Taylor's cross was met by Cisse, but the Senegal striker mis-timed his jump and sent his effort over.
The visitors refused to give up, however, and could have made it 2-1 with six minutes left of normal time when Cisse and Ba were both denied by Cech's double save.
Chelsea's now turn their attention to European matters as they face Atletico Madrid in the Super Cup on Friday, while Newcastle will also feature in Europe, in their Europa League second leg against Atromitos.
Barney Corkhill
