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While thunder and electrical storms crashed and flashed overhead, it was the lightning quick feet of Eden Hazard that ultimately caused Newcastle most problems at Stamford Bridge on Saturday, as they lost there for the first time in almost five years.

The Belgian prodigy netted his first Chelsea goal from the penalty spot midway through the opening half before linking up with Fernando Torres in injury time to double the home side's advantage and ultimately decide the destination of the points.

With the game scoreless there was little between the sides as Alan Pardew made nine changes to the side who had drawn in Greece less than 48 hours earlier - retaining only Papiss Cisse and Vurnon Anita, while Jonas Gutierrez got 20 minutes against Atromitos and started here.

However, ten of the thirteen players who appeared against Chelsea had been in the Athens party and collectively seemed jaded and weary. Fabricio Coloccini was passed fit, while Demba Ba, Yohan Cabaye and Hatem Ben Arfa were all restored to the first XI. Cheick Tiote was missing through injury however and his absence from the crucial midfield area would prove to be a significant factor.

Back in May of this year, we termed our 2-0 victory on this ground "coherent, committed, creative and controlled" and athough our Ivorian was forced off the field after an hour with a head injury that night, he was at the heart of a tenacious display as we fought the home side to a standstill. 

This time round things though were a little different and those tuning in for the teatime kickoff witnessed another Saturday evening reality TV show, after the fantasy of four two wins and two draws here in our last four outings - our best-ever run of form at Stamford Bridge. 

Without Tiote and with Cabaye struggling to contain his former Lille colleague Hazard centre of the pitch, much was required of Anita and what is best described as a varied performance saw him concede the spot kick that gave Chelsea a lead they wouldn't relinquish this time round.

Trailing by that goal, what proved to be United's best chance of the half came just before the interval, when a lofted centre from Gutierrez on the left side of the Chelsea box dropped for Cisse. 

Although his attempt to turn and elude marker David Luiz failed, the defender ("just a sh*t Collocini", apparently) tried to dribble out of danger and lost out to Danny Simpson's block. That saw the ball rebound to Cisse but although he managed to pivot and get a right-footed snap shot away, it was aimed straight at the grateful Cech.  

Having failed to find goals in the opening half against Spurs a week earlier, Pardew had reformatted his side to good effect but as he noted his closing thoughts on the half before delivering them in the dressing room, his side conceded a second goal of admirable quality; the Spanish writhing school of London staying on his feet for a change. 

Nonetheless, the black and whites re-emerged to take the game to their opponents. After his forced absence in midweek, Hatem Ben Arfa showed some glimpses of class and soon whizzed a left-footed effort narrowly wide; Ba also forcing Cech into a saving block after finding space in the box.

Although that second half improvement left Krul kicking his heels for the most part, no away goals followed and the feeling remained that were were to have got one back, then Chelsea would have found another gear. If they finish below us again, Roberto's next job will be somewhere in Siberia.   

Ryan Taylor replaced Danny Simpson - whose crossing had been abysmal - and it was a Taylor delivery from the left that found Cisse unmarked, only for the under-par striker to mis-time his jump and head harmlessly wide. Ba spurned our best chance late on, getting a second bite after a scuffed effort with the goal at his mercy but again managing only to fire into the body of Cech.

Leaving the ground with the conviction that we'd had more of the game then when winning here last season was borne out by the statistics, but it doesn't need much number crunching to realise that failing to convert any occasional half-chances this time round would have an inevitable consequence.  

One week in then, and we've witnessed a win, a draw and a defeat during which we've shown signs of reprising last season's encouraging form but also that some conundrums still remain to be resolved, notably quite what the best use of our two strikers is. This was a long way from February's rout at White Hart Lane when we went with a front pair, but work remains to be done.   

The glumness of Cabaye does also concern us slightly and whether his head has been turned by big team, he's unhappy that his pal Debuchy failed to join him - or maybe a bit of both. The lack of back up in the striking department continues to be a worry. Notwithstanding the possibilities and potential of Adam Campbell, to be sitting with no alternatives behind the Senegal duo seems somewhat remiss. 

Neither Vuckic nor Sammy are genuine front men and Shola will continue to be Shola and be available on occasion (perhaps he's already resting up for the derby). However the likes of Lovenkrands, Best, Donaldson, Airey, Xisco and Ranger have all rightly departed or are rightly beyond selection. This isn't a plea for Carroll, it's a proposal that the recruitment programme that brought in Amalfitano, Bigirimana and Good be extended to give us an option where we currently don't have one.  

By the time we return to Premier League action against Villa on Sunday, we'll know our first opponents in the League Cup, be aware of our Thursday night commitments (or lack of them) and have been put out of our misery as to what our participation in the final hours of the transfer window proved to be.

After all that, things might begin to look a little clearer. This was less of a setback, more of a reminder of just how difficult this league can be and a reflection on the tough timetable we faced this week. 

Biffa