Chelsea missed out on the chance to return to the top of the table after being held to a draw at Newcastle. A misjudged back-pass by Alex gifted Andy Carroll the easiest of finishes to give the home side a fifth-minute lead. Chelsea were poor in the first half but went into the break level thanks to Salomon Kalou's deflected finish. The visitors improved after the break but a winner eluded them and they are now second in the league, two points behind Manchester United. Despite taking only four points from the last 15 available in the Premier League, talk of a full-blown crisis at Chelsea is somewhat premature. However the sense remains that something is not quite right at Stamford Bridge, both on and off the pitch. Whispers of unrest at the sacking of coach Ray Wilkins, coupled with yesterday's announcement of sporting director Frank Arnesen's impending departure have served only to place further scrutiny on a side whose confident early season swagger has been replaced by nervous uncertainty. And although they improved in the second half against Newcastle they were still far from their best on a weekend when Manchester United hit Blackburn for seven and Arsenal fired four past Aston Villa. Chelsea's problems in recent weeks have also extended beyond a lack of a cutting edge in front of goal. With eight clean-sheets to their name, they may still have the best defensive record in the Premier League, but with John Terry absent through injury and question marks over the fitness of their other centre-back regular Alex, recent flaws have been evident in their backline. Having conceded three to Newcastle's north east rivals Sunderland a fortnight ago, Chelsea were almost behind within two minutes at St James' Park when centre-back Steven Taylor - making his first appearance of the season - was allowed to head towards goal from a free-kick swung in from the left. Keeper Petr Cech clawed out this initial effort, but only to Shola Ameobi eight yards out and the striker should have scored but could only volley into the side-netting. Newcastle have had their own problems of late, picking up only one point from their last three matches and going down 5-1 to Bolton last weekend. What they needed was something to lift their spirits - and Alex duly provided just that. Jon Mikel Obi relinquished possession to Wayne Routledge in midfield but got back to flick the ball to the Brazilian. However the his subsequent back pass was overhit and beat the onrushing Cech to give Carroll the easiest of finishes into an unguarded net. In reply, Didier Drogba drew a good save from Tim Krul with an angled drive, Ashley Cole saw a penalty shout waved away when he was clipped in the box by Cheik Tiote, and Alex saw a header cleared off the line by Jose Enrique, but otherwise Chelsea struggled to fashion chances. However, with regular centre-back pairing Mike Williamson and Fabricio Coloccini suspended, Newcastle were weakened at the heart of their defence and with a minute to go until half-time Chelsea struck Mikel fed the ball to Florent Malouda whose superb flick was straight into the path of Kalou. The Ivorian turned Sol Campbell in the box and his side-foot shot found the bottom right-hand corner via a deflection off Enrique. The timing of the goal was ideal for the visitors, whose second-half performance was a vast improvement on their first. But despite their best efforts, they were unable to land a decisive blow. Drogba had the ball in the net, but his effort was ruled out because the Ivorian had handled in the build-up, while Kalou somehow contrived to shoot into the side netting from close range when a committed Krul presented him with an unguarded goal. Substitute Daniel Sturridge also fired wide after his initial shot had been blocked by Taylor. The visitors were also indebted to Cole for a goal-line headed clearance from a Routledge angled shot from 20 yards, but in the end Newcastle will be happier with their point, which lifts them up to ninth. Source: BBC