Chelsea damped all the euphoria at St James Park with a clinical performance in their 2-0 winb over Newcastle United on Saturday.

Much of the pre-game media was devoted to the return of Alan Shearer as the new Newcastle manager with the home crowd optimistic that their side will be able to put up an improved performance for the remainder of the season.

The hosts sat back right from the start and were content to break down Chelsea's attacks, rarely venturing forward. The move almost back fired in the 18th minute when Salomon Kalou almost broke the deadlock only for Steve Harper to pull off an excellent save to deny the striker.

Newcastle's best chance of the first half fell to Obafemi Martins who shot wide of the near post after Jonas Gutierrez had done well to find the striker with a pinpoint cross.

Chelsea finally broke the deadlock 11 minutes into the second half when Nicolas Anelka latched on to a poor clearance by Fabricio Coloccini and though the French striker saw his shot smash against the bar, Frank Lampard was at hand to complete an easy finish.

The visitors stepped up the pressure in search of a killer goal and were rewarded in the 65th minute when Anelka flicked on Petr Cech's long clearance for Florent Malouda to slot home from close range to wrap up the points for his side and pushing Newcastle further into the relegation zone.