At a Glance
- Papiss Cisse produced a masterclass
- Newcastle’s only league win over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge
- The Magpies face the Blues on Saturday (March 14)
Newcastle United visited Stamford Bridge to face Chelsea on May 2nd, 2012, while chasing Champions League qualification in the Premier League.
Few had expected the Magpies to challenge for the European spots that season. The previous campaign saw popular manager Chris Houghton replaced, somewhat bewilderingly, by Alan Pardew. Homegrown hero Andy Carroll then left for Liverpool.
This eventually led to the mass exodus of fan favourites. Kevin Nolan, Joey Barton, and Jose Enrique all headed for the St James’ Park exit door.
But by the time the team travelled to West London in early May, they had defied all expectations. They sat fifth in the Premier League and eyed a return to Europe’s premier competition for the first time in nine years.
Newcastle had never beaten Chelsea away from home in the Premier League. But the Blues had even more pressing concerns that evening.
The game took place just three days before their FA Cup final against Liverpool. It also came a few weeks before their Champions League final against Bayern Munich.
Sometimes a football match takes on a life of its own because of an extraordinary moment or performance, think the ‘Hand of God’, or the ‘Gerrard final’. But few outside either fanbase can probably remember the game, the final score, or whether Newcastle qualified for the Champions League at the end of that season.
What everyone remembers from that game is one outrageous strike from Papiss Cisse that would earn this match its moniker. This was the Cisse show.
The ‘forgotten’ first goal
Of course, as a direct result of his more famous goal that was still to come later that evening, one of the cliches that has come out of this game over the years is that ‘nobody remembers his first goal’, or that ‘his first goal is underrated’.
Indeed, a whole spiel was lined up about how the goal isn’t forgotten and has subsequently become so overrated on account of how underrated everybody says it is. Then, trying to find a video of just Cisse’s first goal failed miserably. Perhaps it is somewhat lost to history, by comparison anyway.
Played in by full-back David Santon, Cisse quickly readjusted his feet just inside the Chelsea penalty area, and in one fluid movement flicked the ball up off his right foot before sending a left-footed shot flying past a flailing Petr Cech to put the Magpies 1-0 up.
The sensational second goal
What began as an innocuous throw-in a few meters into the Chelsea half would lead to one of the Premier League’s most iconic moments just five seconds later.
Ryan Taylor (Over The Wall – to give him his full title) launched the ball roughly 25 yards forward towards Shola Ameobi. ‘The Mackem Slayer’, who was positioned between the byline and the left of the Chelsea box, jostled in front of John Obi-Mikel, and chested the ball towards Cisse.
What happened next has been replayed ad infinitum, spawned endless debate on whether it was intentional or accidental, and analysed frame by frame as if it were football’s answer to the Zapruder film.
With what may go down in history as the greatest example of a pure half-volley ever caught on camera, Cisse met Ameobi’s chested-down pass just as the ball bounced.
The Senegalese striker approached the ball having just spun away from Branislav Ivanovic, who was left in no man’s land as he turned to face Ameobi. Cisse came onto the ball at an angle that felt wrong.
If a right-footed player is shooting towards goal from the outermost edge of the left side of the 18-yard box, then they almost always use the inside of the foot to bend the ball ‘out-then-in’, but Cisse did the opposite, approaching the ball and striking it with the outside of his right foot.
The ball then gained momentum and trajectory as it spun off his boot and arced towards Cech, as the Chelsea keeper quickly began backtracking towards his goal. But despite his 6ft 5 frame, even the Czech shotstopper was hapless as the ball looped over him.
Such was the sheer amount of curve on Cisse’s shot that the ball came close to hitting the post on the opposite side of the goal. Fortunately for Newcastle fans, it nestled just inside the first square of the net, completing an almost physics-defying journey from Cisse’s right foot to the back of the net.
Legacy
Newcastle left Stamford Bridge with all three points that night. They ended a near 20-year wait for a league win away to Chelsea. Fourteen years later, it remains The Magpies’ solitary away win at the bridge.
Cisse was only four months into his Newcastle career when he scored probably the greatest brace in Premier League history. His sensational volley against Chelsea won the Premier League Goal of the Season that year.
After joining the club in the January transfer window, Cisse embarked on a remarkable run of goalscoring. He ended his half-season with 13 goals in just 14 appearances, striking up a formidable partnership with compatriot Demba Ba.
Unfortunately, Ba headed to Chelsea the following January. Cisse couldn’t recapture the prolific form he’d enjoyed during his first four months. With diminishing returns over the next four seasons (and a talent for being caught offside that even Filippo Inzaghi would be in awe of), Cisse eventually left Newcastle after they were relegated to the Championship in 2016.
Cisse’s career at St James’ may have petered out, but he is still viewed as a cult hero by Newcastle fans. This in no small part thanks to his legendary strike against Chelsea.
