The Blues saw their hopes of consolidating their top-four spot ruined by a late header.

Chelsea has been dealt a massive blow in its pursuit of a place in the Premier League's top-four following Saturday's shock defeat to Newcastle. A 94th-minute header by the Magpies' Isaac Hayden was enough to undo all the hard work done by Frank Lampard's side with their position on the table now in the balance.

With Manchester United travelling to Liverpool on Sunday, the essence of a win for the Stamford Bridge outfit could not be understated ahead of the meeting with Newcastle. This comes on the back of the fact that five points separated the Red Devils from the Blues who ranked fourth on the league table.

Nevertheless, despite dominating proceedings, Chelsea had very little to show for at the end, falling to Hayden's late goal which sparked a massive frenzy inside St James' Stadium as a result of its implication. Watch:

In essence, the win took Newcastle seven points clear of the relegation zone while Chelsea still remains five points above fifth-placed Manchester United. In the aftermath of the encounter, Lampard rued his side's missed chances while commending his men for the day's performance despite the outcome. "

At 0-0 I was going to say to them that they gave everything because they pushed and pushed," he told Sky Sports.

"It's football so you have to get your head around it very quickly. I am not a big one for stats but the feel of the game was domination.

"They had three headers in the game and one of them they scored with. Other than that, in the second half I don't really remember them endangering our box.

"We camped around their box, created chances. You won't always create clear-cut chances against Newcastle because they have so many bodies back behind the ball and fair play to them because they defend with everything.

"We know we have problems at the top end of the pitch because we don't get enough front-line goals if we want to bridge the gap. That's something we have seen a lot this season at home and today was like a home game.

"If you don't score you are always liable for a sucker punch and we got it."