Soccer: Chelsea machine freezes up

As he pushed his hands deeper into the pockets of his coat and surveyed the blizzard that engulfed St James' Park yesterday, Jose Mourinho could have been forgiven for thinking that this was what Sir Alex Ferguson meant when he talked about the challenge facing Chelsea in the north of England.

In foreboding and inhospitable surroundings, with their fixtures piling up, suddenly his indomitable blue machine had ground to a halt.

Chelsea finished with nine men on the pitch, plus Irish international Damien Duff as a passenger.

William Gallas' stride betrayed a slight limp. And in goal, after Carlo Cudicini's red card, was defender Glen Johnson.

For a Portuguese coach to whom chaos and disorganisation is an anathema, the state of his team at the end of this game must have been some kind of hell.

Chelsea were beaten by a Patrick Kluivert goal after only four minutes and all they lost in real terms was their place in a competition they consider the third most important of the four they contest.

But the collapse of their remarkable assault on an unprecedented clean sweep of trophies in one season signals something more profound among Mourinho's men: the end of the self-perpetuating belief that they could achieve the seemingly impossible.

Mourinho was phlegmatic. He said he did not want "to cry in defeat", and protested that his team had been the better despite being reduced to 10 men after 47 minutes when England left-back Wayne Bridge was carried off.

Nevertheless, he goes to the Nou Camp on Thursday without Didier Drogba, Arjen Robben and Bridge - and serious doubts about Duff and Gallas - for a match that will call upon all his managerial cunning.

Defeat in the FA Cup, only their second to an English side all season, told Mourinho that his second string will not always be sufficient to swat aside all opposition.

For Graeme Souness, victory came as sweet relief from five months of unrelenting underachievement at Newcastle United. "I've had a great day," he said. The victory was built upon a towering defensive performance by the often error-prone Titus Bramble and the winning goal was only the second that Chelsea had conceded in nine games.

Even before Newcastle came out for the second half, Mourinho had dispatched the trio of Lampard, Duff and Eidur Gudjohnsen from the substitutes' bench to acclimatise. It was a bold move by the Chelsea manager, but when Bridge collapsed two minutes into the half it felt potentially disastrous.

The left-back was challenged heavily by Alan Shearer, but his left leg folded underneath him as Bridge was left motionless on the pitch.

He was sent to hospital for an X-ray on a suspected broken ankle and Chelsea were down to 10 men. Eventually, it was Kluivert's pass to substitute Shola Ameobi in added time that proved Chelsea's last indignity: Cudicini came out to challenge and, finding himself beaten, brought the striker down.

"My life is about risks," Mourinho said of his half-time substitutions. He will need to take a few in Barcelona.

- INDEPENDENT