Full-time: Newcastle 0 Chelsea 2. The title race is still on. Chelsea just about deserved it, but Newcastle can take heart from their performance.

90 + 3 - Almost three: Chelsea hit Newcastle on the break and Essien finds himself clean through on goal. His final touch is too heavy though and Harper comes out to smoother at his feet.

90 - Solid: There is no way through for the Magpies now as Chelsea pull everyone behind the ball in order to keep their clean sheet. Thoroughly professional performance by the Blues today. They have been far from brilliant, but have done enough to take the points.

88 - No chance: Nothing is coming off for Newcastle now, and N'Zogbia overhits an easy pass to Duff straight out of play.

Sub: Drogba makes way for Shevchenko. The Ivorian has not enjoyed one of his better days this afternoon.

85 - Too strong: Newcastle have given a good account of themselves this afternoon but have been unable to keep out the Blues' considerable attacking threat. However, with some clever signings over the summer the Magpies should be competing at the right end of the table next season.

82 - GOAL: Newcastle 0 Chelsea 2. Lampard rolls a clever ball into the path of Malouda, and as the Frenchman breaks into the box he rolls a left-foot effort under the body of the onrushing Harper. Could be game over.

81 - Options: Ballack spreads the play with a brilliant ball to Ferreira on the right, the full-back is unable to pick out a blue shirt in the middle though.

80 - Track back: Beye finds himself on the edge of the Chelsea box, but Malouda has gone all the way with him and blocks his attempted cross.

Sub: Alex on for Carvalho.

Sub: N'Zogbia on in place of Jose Enrique. He should provide more of an attacking option down the left.

Not special: John and James both feel that Chelsea would have done just as well this season whoever was in charge at the Bridge, and are refusing to pile the praise on Grant. They may have a point.

76 - Dangerous: Malouda swings over another set-piece and Ballack is inches away from getting on the end of it. The German is awesome in the air and is causing all kinds of problems.

Hope: Justin, James and Clare remain optimistic that the Magpies will find a breakthrough at some point, while Ryan is gutted that Chelsea have snatched the lead after a below par performance.

73 - Easy save: Ballack powers forward and unleashes from 25-yards. It moves in the air, but Harper gets strong hands behind it and parries to safety.

72 - Must score: Owen misses the ball from six-yards out with the goal at his mercy. He did well to beat the offside trap and make an attempt to reach Smith's mishit shot, but really should have levelled things up. Newcastle are getting closer.

71 - Just wide: Martins fires in a well struck effort from the edge of the box and sees it deflected agonisignly wide of the post with Cech stranded.

Sub: Duff comes on in place of Geremi. Can he torment his former club?

69 - Poor: Geremi's second attempt is no better and crashes into the wall. Carvalho then hammers the resulting breaking ball back into the Newcastle half.

Booked: Malouda is cautioned for closing down Geremi's effort too quickly. Let's try again.

67 - Opportunity: Owen chases a lost cause and is rewarded with a free-kick right on the edge of the box. Can Newcastle strike back?

Sub: Lampard comes on in place of Anelka.

65 - Deflection: Anelka gets one-on-one with Beye, but instead of looking to beat he tries to poke an effort into the bottom corner. The full-back gets a foot in though and it slips harmlesly through to Harper.

64 - Quiet: St James' Park is as queit as it has been all afternoon. The fans need to lift their side as there is still plenty of time to get back in the game.

Respect: Andrew believes Chelsea deserve to win as Avram Grant still hasn't been given the credit he merits.

60 - GOAL: Newcastle 0 Chelsea 1. Drogba flights the free-kick to the front post and Ballack rises unmarked to head home. Poor marking by Newcastle and Chelsea have the goal they so desperately needed.

60 - On the edge: Faye cuts down Malouda right on the edge of the box. An inch further in field and the Blues would be preparing a spot-kick. What can they make of this opportunity?

58 - Barge: Drogba threatens to find space inside the box but he is knocked off the ball by Faye. The striker's first touch was not the best and he gave the Magpies man an opportunity to close him down.

Get in touch: Remember to keep your views coming in by using the following link: Chris Burton

56 - Pressure: Newcastle are struggling to clear their lines and are being forced into some desperate defending. Chelsea are knocking on the door, but can they open it?

54 - Off the bar: Terry hammers a header off the woodwork. The Chelsea skipper towers above everyone to meet a Malouda corner and is unfortunate to see it cannon back into play.

52 - Almost: Anelka looks to have the beating of Beye, but the full-back hangs out a leg at the last moment and prevents the Frenchman from getting past. Anelka has seen plenty of the ball today but is yet to do anything with it.

50 - Knocks: Essien has already spent a period rolling around on the floor, and now Faye has gone down and requires treatment. It's been a stop-start opening to the second period and it's yet to come to life.

47 - Early push: The visitors make a bright start and push Newcastle back. The Blues are the masters of grinding something out of nothing, and while they have not been pleasing on the eye this afternoon but they have a habit picking up vital victories.

Second-half: Chelsea get us up and running again.

Sub: Smith comes on in place of Viduka.

Magpies support: Unsurprisingly there are plenty of United and Arsenal supporters getting behind Newcastle this afternoon. The home side are doing their bit so far, but Chelsea are more than capable of snatching something yet.

Stalemate: Chris in Cork feels that we will get goals in the second period, but the game will finish 1-1. He also feels that Drogba has been disappointing, a sentiment shared by Paul, and myself, judging by how little he was mentioned during the opening 45 minutes.

Half-time: Newcastle 0 Chelsea 0. All square at the break. Owen had an effort cleared off the line for Newcastle. while Ballack wasted Chelsea' s best chance. All in all though a half of few clear cut opportunities.

45 + 1 - Fine tackle: Faye takes no prisoners as he crunches into Anelka on the edge of the box. Chelsea had numbers forward and the centre-half did well to bring an abrupt end to the attack.

45 - Dreadful: Beye becomes the latest in a long line of players to fire miles wide of the target. To be fair to him his effort does sit up in front of him just before he hits it, but it ends up closer to the corner flag than the goal.

44 - Hack: Chelsea have resorted to bringing Martins down before he can get anywhere near the goal in a desperate bid to stop him running rings around them. Mikel is the latest culprit, and is fortunate to escape a booking.

42 - Poor cross: Newcastel load bodies into the box, but Jose Enrique's delivey is poor and barely gets off the floor. The Magpies keep the pressure on, but Chelsea quickly regroup and see out the danger.

40 - Wrong option. Essien and Mikel exchange passes in midfield to send the Nigerian scurring towards goal. However, with options right and left Mikel chooses to shoot and it comes as no surprise that yet again Harper remains untested.

Growing belief: Connor, John, Ivan and Grant all see the Magpies flying high today. The longer the game goes on the more desperate Chelsea will become and space will open up so it might be on for Keegan's men.

38 - Wayward: More wild shooting from Chelsea as Essien once again smashes a long-range effort into the Geordie faithful.

37 - Muscled out: Anelka tries to sneak in down the right, but his run is matched all the way by Taylor and the Magpies man is able to nudge the Frenchman away from danger.

35 - Took too long: Essien powers forward and plays in Ballack on the left of the box. The German is clean through in goal but needs four touches to sort his feet out and eventually slices over the top. Chelsea's best chance so far by a mile.

Booking: Terry is cautioned for a block tackle on Owen. Slightly unfortunate, as the Chelsea man had no time to get out of the way.

32 - Lifted: The Owen chance has seen Newcastle take hold of the game once more as they push Chelsea back into theri own half. Butt and Barton both try to pick their way through a resolute Chelsea defence, but the Blues stand firm.

Fortunate: Matt sees Chelsea grinding out a lucky 1-0 win, while India also feels that the Blues will prove too strong as the game unfolds. It's not all Blues support though, as Dave in New York sees the Toon winning a thriller 3-2.

28 - Off the line: Martins and Viduka cause mayhem in the Chelsea box, and when the ball breaks to Owen he sees his snap shot hacked off the line by Terry. Great defending by the England man, but despair for his international team-mate.

27 - No power: Anelka cuts inside from his right flank, but when presented with a sight of goal he tries to pass the ball through the masses of bodies in front of him and unsurprisingly fails in attempt. He should have just put his foot through it.

26 - Dragged: Essien tries his luck from 30-yards but pulls his effort harmlessly wide. Harper is yet to be tested yet, and the Blues have been restricted to ambitious strikes from long range.

24 - Waste: Newcastle are squandering possession far too easily and are inviting Chelsea to attack them. They need to regroup as they have already proven that they can cause the Blues problems at the back.

Too close to call: Joel, Polly and Jon all see Keegan's men coming out on top, but Justin sees Nicky Butt doing his old club a few favours by derailing the Blues' title bid. Chelsea look shaky at the back at the moment, but have looked confident going forward, so it could still go either way.

20 - Tight call: Butt appears to send Barton away down the right-wing, only to see the linesman's flag spoil their progress. Barton is unimpressed by the decision, and he did appear to be level when the ball was played. Chelsea are leaving plenty of open spaces at the back though and Newcastle will get through eventually if they don't tighten up.

19 - Solid: Malouda forces over a cross from the left looking for Anelka in the middle. Taylor reads the danger though and steps in front of the striker to hammer clear.

Thriller: James in Belfast thinks that we are in for an entertaining afteroon, with a Magpies victory to round it off. I certainly hope that we do get a thriller, but at the moment much of the early pace of the game has been lost.

16 - Positive: Martins once again scares the life out of the Blues defence as he drifts past Terry with ease. Rather than go for glory on his own he lays the ball back to Geremi, but the midfielder's first touch is horrible and Ballack is able to nick it off him.

14 - Fired in: Geremi finds room on the right, but his cross is fizzed in with far too much pace and gives his strikers no chance of getting a telling touch.

13 - Pace: Martins looks capable to causing problems every time he touches the ball and is playing right on the line of Chelsea's back four. He is pushed too far wide on this occasion, but forces Ferreira into a clumsy tackle.

Predictions: Ray is backing MArtins and Owen to fire the hosts to a 2-1 win, while Will sees Essien and Drogba earning a 2-0 victory for the visitors.

10 - Ambitious: Martins is allowed to carry the ball menacingly towards the Chelsea box, but rather scuffs his 20-yard drive straight into the grateful arms of Cech. It's been a bright opening and both sides look capable of carving the opposition open. Let's hope it continues.

9 - Nowhere near: Anelka dinks in a clever cross from the right, and despite being unmarked Malouda manages to place his header well wide of the target, He had acres of space in which to work, but the ball came of the top of his head.

Revenge: Michael in New Hampshire, USA sees Newcastle snatching all three points as payback for the Magpie sbeing robbed by a dodgy offside decision at Stamford Bridge back in December.

6 - Great chance: Michael Owen wastes the first opportunity of the afternoon. Butt does well to bustle past Essien and lift a ball beyond the Chelsea defence. Owen is first to the ball, but lifts a volley over the bar as he attempts to use the outside of his right foot when an effort with his left may have brought a better result.

5 - Well over: The free-kick is finally taken, but is not worth the wait as Geremi fires it high into the stands. He looks at the ground to suggest he hit a divert, but it was just a woeful effort.

4 - Stupid: Geremi lines up a free-kick, only to see Mikel come and knock the ball away. He escapes a booking, but is lucky boy after a needless display of petulance.

2 - Slack: Martins gets the crowd on their feet with an early burst down the left, but as he cuts back inside he pass towards Geremi is underhit and Carvalho intercepts with ease. Newcastle look fired up and ready to have a right go today.

All square: Rob and Ian feel we are set for a stalemate this afternoon, while Jared sees Chelsea's title dreams being crushed on Tyneside. Let's see.

Kick-off: Newcastle get us underway.

Here we go: The teams are out and we're all set at St James'. Will the title race be any clearer in 90 minutes time, or can Chelsea take it to the last day of the season? We are about to find out!

Chelsea's title: Chris feels that the Blues only need to pick up a point today as they will see off Bolton next Sunday while United will slip up at Wigan. Positive thinking, if slightly optimistic.

Get in touch: Feel free to let me know your opinions on how today's game is going to go. You can get in touch buy using the following link: Chris Burton

Team news: The Magpies will hoping that their three-pronged strike force continues to fire this afternoon, and Geremi lines up against his former club. John Obi Mikel comes in for Frank Lampard in the Chelsea midfield, but the England man has been given a place on the bench. Michael Essien is moved back into a preferred midfield role, while Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka will provide the attacking threat.

Chelsea team: Cech, Ferreira, Terry, Carvalho, Bridge, Essien, Obi, Ballack, Anelka, Drogba, Malouda. Subs: Cudicini, Shevchenko, Lampard, Joe Cole, Alex.

Newcastle team: Harper, Beye, Taylor, Faye, Jose Enrique, Geremi, Butt, Barton, Viduka, Owen, Martins. Subs: Forster, Cacapa, Duff, N'Zogbia, Smith.

Chelsea can move level with Manchester United at the top with maximum points on Tyneside, while Newcastle are looking to stretch their unbeaten run to eight matches.

Welcome to St James' Park for skysports.com's coverage to today's Premier League clash between Newcastle and Chelsea.