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Shola Cites Magpies 'Freedom'
Written by Newcastle Utd
Two-goal star believes the shackles were off for United as they became the first team to beat Chelsea this term
By Dan King
Two-goal hero Shola Ameobi hailed the "freedom" which Newcastle showed as they dumped Barclays Premier League champions Chelsea out of the Carling Cup.
United side made 10 changes from the XI which defeated Everton last weekend, with youngsters like Shane Ferguson, Haris Vuckic and Nile Ranger excelling in the normally fortress-like surroundings of Stamford Bridge.
And backed up by the experience of Ameobi, Sol Campbell, Alan Smith and Fabricio Coloccini, The Magpies won an amazing game 4-3.
"You come here, nobody's expecting you to get a result - outside the dressing room, that is - but I think we've taken the confidence that we've got from the start to the season into this game and played with a freedom," a beaming Ameobi told nufcTV just minutes after his magnificent header settled the tie.
"It's Chelsea - you know they're going to come at you and score goals - but tonight we managed to put away a few of the chances that we did have."
And Ameobi, who celebrated the tenth anniversary of his Newcastle debut, ironically against Chelsea, earlier this month, paid tribute to the character shown by the team against Carlo Ancelotti's side.
"I think that's the biggest compliment to ourselves - the fact that we were at Stamford Bridge with three or four young players in there, yet the strength of character that they showed was beyond their years.
"To come back and to produce a performance like that keeps the momentum going for us into Sunday's game, but also for the players who haven't been playing a lot, like myself, who are trying to get back in that first-team. Tonight was a chance to show what we could do and I think we managed to do that."