Hot Scott repays Jose's act of faith

13 April 2012

Newcastle O Chelsea 2 (aet)

Scott Parker was the most influential midfielder on show at St James' Park last night but admitted winning over Chelsea head coach Jose Mourinho had been the toughest task of his career.

The 24-year-old drew the sting out of Newcastle and as the home side tired in extra-time, substitutes Eidur Gudjohnsen and Arjen Robben took full advantage with spectacular strikes.

With Frank Lampard on the bench and Claude Makelele rested altogether, Parker took centre stage. He tackled, encouraged his team-mates and sprayed passes around like he did with Charlton before his controversial £10million move to Stamford Bridge in January.

One bone-crunching tackle to deny Laurent Robert an opening goal summed up his performance and he said afterwards he was delighted to feel a proper part of Mourinho's allstars.

He said: "I don't think the manager knew me or what sort of player I was when he joined the club.

"I felt he didn't have much confidence in me at the beginning. I've had to go out and give him a reason to have faith in me.

"I'm really pleased to get a run of games. At Charlton, I was the sort of player to drive others on and set the tempo for the rest of the lads. I like to think I can assert myself in a game and I'm confident enough to do that at Chelsea.

"Newcastle came out the blocks fast after their 4-1 defeat against Fulham but we were gritty and determined."

Parker outshone England midfield rivals Jermaine Jenas and Nicky Butt at St James' Park to lift hopes of an international recall when Sven-Goran Eriksson names his squad on Saturday night for next week's friendly in Spain.

It's a far cry from a wretched start to the campaign when Parker played just once in two months for Mourinho and was even linked with a return to The Valley.

"It was difficult but I spoke to Frank Lampard a few times because he came to Chelsea from West Ham and it was a similar situation to mine," admitted Parker.

"It helps me to look at Frank and see what he has achieved. I feel I deserve to be at Chelsea and can do really well."

Like Arsene Wenger and Sir Alex Ferguson, Mourinho tinkered with his side for the Carling Cup but still reached the last eight with something to spare. Carlo Cudicini, deputising for Petr Cech, made three snappy saves from Laurent Robert but Chelsea still dictated the tempo, with Paulo Ferreira providing steel on the right-hand side ahead of Glen Johnson.

With Newcastle having failed to deliver the knockout blow in 90 minutes, Mourinho introduced fresh legs in Robben and Gudjohnsen for Damien Duff and Parker, and the plan worked a treat.

Robben fed Gudjohnsen to fire the opening goal with a crisp low shot after 100 minutes. And 13 minutes later, Robben left Titus Bramble trailingin his wake with a dramatic burst of acceleration before sliding the ball past goalkeeper Shay Given.

Mourinho said: "I told my players we would win in extra-time because they were more tired than us.

"We were always going to get more space and exploit that because we had substitutes with special qualities. But even if it went to penalties there was no pressure because Carlo Cudicini would have saved two or three.

"Cudicini and Scott Parker were fantastic."

Chelsea - who have won seven times on the trot - will now face west London rivals Fulham twice at Craven Cottage in quick succession, starting in the Premiership on Saturday and again in the last eight of the Carling Cup.

The Cottagers definitely won't fancy facing Robben in this mood. The Dutch flyer has scored in his last two games and said last night: "Titus Bramble tried to pull me down and I was a bit off-balance but I managed to score.

"It was a difficult game but our defensive organisation was perfect."

MORE ABOUT

Charlton Athletic

Claude Makelele

David Jones (Footballer)

Eidur Gudjohnsen

Jose Mourinho

Hot Scott repays Jose's act of faith

Read More