IF THIS really was Carlo Ancelotti's farewell to Stamford Bridge, he must surely have been hoping for a slightly better send off than this.

Chelsea succeeded mostly in frustrating themselves with their own lack of guile and had four players booked in a tetchy afternoon which seemed to sum up the feeling of burst bubbles after the surrender of the title.

Even the traditional post-match salute from players to fans which signals the end of the final home match seemed lacking in the usual enthusiasm.

The Blues almost managed to eke out an undeserved win when Frank Lampard's free-kick from out wide was completely misjudged by United keeper Tim Krul and Alex had a free header into an empty net from the edge of the six yard box.

But in injury time, Steven Taylor headed home from close range after a Ryan Taylor corner had been headed back towards the near post.

In his desire to invigorate his side after last week's Old Trafford disappointment, Ancelotti gave a first league start to Josh McEachran, while Yossi Benayoun was given his Blues league debut.

But although tidy, neither player was able to have a major bearing on proceedings and in his desperation, the Italian threw on his experienced cavalry on 64 minutes.

The introduction of Didier Drogba, Michael Essien and Florent Malouda in one fell swoop seemed full of symbolism.

It was as if the Chelsea boss was not just trying to rescue a limp display, but also somehow trying to rescue himself from the gallows.

But it was not enough to change Chelsea's fortunes this time and of course, even if it had, few expect to see the former AC Milan boss retained for the final year of his contract

It has to be said that Fernando Torres never looked like giving his boss a good send off either. The Spaniard had another poor afternoon where he looked as if the season could not end soon enough. The striker struggled for pace and touch and was lucky to survive the shake up of subs.

The Blues started well enough. They were ahead within two minutes when player of the year Branislav Ivanovic stabbed in from three yards for his sixth of the season.

The defender got ahead of Fabricio Coloccini to turn in a Frank Lampard corner which Fernando Torres had flicked on from the edge of the six yard box.

But Newcastle drew level in the 10 th minute when Ryan Taylor's free-kick from 25 yards cannoned into the net off Jonas Guttierez, standing just in front of John Terry, who had given away the set piece.

The goalscorer did not have much say in the direction of the lucky deflection, which totally wrong-footed Petr Cech, but it typified a day which was never quite under Chelsea's control.

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