Another match, another loss, and another press conference in which Rafa Benitez has to make up some excuses for his team, while Frank Lampard can’t stop scoring, Juan Mata keeps playing like the best on the pitch while his striker, Demba Ba and Fernando Torres, hardly make any sort of impact.

Sometimes you simply win with passion and the will of more than 50,000 fans pushing you forward. Newcastle, instead of taking a step forward this season from their success last year, took two steps back. In reply, they bought up the entire stock of available players in Ligue 1. Now, facing real relegation threat unless a winning streak can be achieved, with their backs against the wall, they start winning again.

But we’re about the troubles at Chelsea, and less about those Newcastle have, forgotten for at least one day. The Chelsea formula remains the same: Frank Lampard has a bad match, but keeps scoring goals somehow, continuing the trend of making everyone question Chelsea’s decision to let him go next season, currently not offering him a new contract.

Juan Mata continues to be the engine and the cause of most things good on Chelsea’s attack, unable to make it stick with other players: Oscar seems stunned half the time he’s on the pitch for Chelsea, Ryan Bertrand is simply not a winger, and not a good one or influential one when he actually does play in that position.

Demba Ba was the striker who got the start as Rafa Benitez continues with the rotation at the position which doesn’t seem to be doing anyone any good; He didn’t do much in the 42 minutes he played; he left the match with a broken nose after Fabio Coloccini broke it for him, kicking him in the face. The result? Just blood; no penalty, no booking, no nothing. Howard Webb at his finest moment.

So Fernando Torres got just a little bit more than a half to show he’s worthy of a chance in the lineup. By the way, he hasn’t scored a league goal in over a month, and not equalizer against Brentford is going to convince anyone that it’s just a matter of time, or how Rafa Benitez likes to defend him, saying those who criticize him know nothing about football.

The facts don’t always tell the whole story, but in Chelsea’s case, it’s clear. An unbalanced squad can’t hide the truth for long, especially when several of the team’s best players, are out – Mikel and Moses in Africa playing with Nigeria, Eden Hazard still serving a suspension after kicking that ball boy.

And that leaves Chelsea with a midfield that can’t help its defense – Ramires and Frank Lampard do have their moments on offense, but they’re not good enough to hide the fact that they have no shred of ability to play the DM position well, and David Luiz being absent as well becomes more and more painful for a side that was built to conquer Europe, but for now looks like it’s closer to battle for their place in next year’s Champions League.

Image: BBC