Cisse inspired Newcastle bounce back from Wigan hammering

Wonder strike: Papiss Cisse celebrates his 2nd goal against Chelsea

Thankfully, I struggled to find the time to publish a reaction to Newcastle's humbling defeat by Wigan Athletic at the weekend, but the short turnaround to Wednesday night's game against Chelsea gave me the chance to write about something much more positive, Newcastle's impressive 2-0 win at Stamford Bridge.

A clash with Roberto Di Matteo's resurgent blues was always going to be an extreme test of Newcastle's Champions League credentials, especially considering the manner of the defeat they suffered on the Saturday before.

The relegation threatened Latics blitzed past the Magpies and had the game wrapped up within the first 45 minutes, as two goals from Victor Moses, one from Shaun Maloney and a superb long range effort from Franco Di Santo put the game beyond Newcastle's reach despite the best efforts of star striker Papiss Cisse to reduce the arrears.

Resiliency has been a key factor in Newcastle's season however, and Cisse soon made amends in West London as he fired in two spectacular strikes to keep the Magpies in the hunt for a top four place.

Jumping for joy: Cisse put Newcastle ahead 19 minutes into the game

Chelsea started the game brightly and could have taken the lead when Raul Meireles fired a free-kick over the bar, but Newcastle soon took control of the game and began to dominate both possession and territory. They were rewarded for their good start when Cisse delivered the first of two remarkable efforts 19 minutes into the contest, the Senegalese international collected Davide Santon's pass before teeing up a delicious left footed volley past Petr Cech and into the top corner.

Di Matteo's men struggled to make much of an impression in the first half, but should have levelled matters when Florent Malouda headed Fernando Torres' cross wide of the goal.

Still it was Newcastle who looked more likely to score the game's second, Demba Ba - who has not netted since the 2-1 win over Aston Villa - forced a good save from Cech before being denied by the crossbar after latching on to a Hatem Ben Arfa corner.

The Londoners held on to the break but were unable to create any clear opportunities after the interval despite the introduction of Juan Mata and later Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba.

Indeed Newcastle kept the home side at bay with surprising ease, and midway through the second half the most eventful thing to have happened was an injury to Cheick Tiote, who had to be stretchered off after sustaining a cut to the head in a collision with John Obi Mikel.

The Magpies remained stern in defence throughout and their fortitude was summed up by Santon, who showed the presence of mind to clear a John Terry header off the line just three minutes from the end of normal time.

With 10 minutes of injury time to be played due to the delay caused by Tiote's injury, the Stamford Bridge crowd were more than confident that Chelsea could pull off a late rally.

All Blues' hopes were dispelled three minutes into added time however, as Cisse produced one of the goals of the season to seal the points for Alan Pardew's side. The goal came about from a seemingly innocuous Newcastle throw-in just inside the Chelsea half. Substitute Ryan Taylor launched the ball into the path of Shola Ameobi, whose knockdown fell to Cisse, who instinctively hit an audacious right-footed volley that swerved over the head of Cech and nestled in the top corner.

The visiting fans were sent into sheer delirium, Drogba and sections of the Chelsea fans applauded in admiration, Stamford Bridge and the Premier League had just witnessed a thing of beauty, one of those rare goals that unites fans in appreciation of the immense talent showcased by an individual.

Cisse's strikes have kept Newcastle right in the thick of the race for the Champions League, but his second will not be remembered for that, instead it will rightfully be regaled as one of the greatest goals in the history of the Premier League.