Goal drought irks Ancelotti

Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti bemoaned his side’s lack of goals away from home after watching them draw 1-1 at Newcastle on Sunday.

Andy Carroll’s sixth-minute opener at St James’ Park stunned the visitors, who had lost three of their last four Premier League meetings prior to the encounter.

But a Salomon Kalou strike on the brink of half-time revived Chelsea’s afternoon and they should have won the match in the dying stages.

Instead, they wasted several opportunities and have now only scored once in their last three Premier League away fixtures – something Ancelotti wants to rectify.

“We were unlucky but we have to do better in front (of goal), away from home in three games we have scored just one goal and it is not enough and we have to improve,” Ancelotti told Sky Sports.

“The performance was good, just I think we have to convert the shots we have.”

While Ancelotti was slightly disappointed with his side’s performance, Newcastle manager Chris Hughton was pleased to share the spoils with the reigning champions.

“Credit to every one of our players, we dug in and we got to a stage where if you can get comfortable against a side like that, then we ended up being a touch comfortable,” Hughton said.

“You get to that stage of the game where the joy of getting something from the game is a little bit more than the possibility of losing the game,” he said.

“You are fearful every time they attack because of what they have got, they had got the ascendancy, and we conceded a poor goal.”

“But we dug in and I don’t think anyone seeing that game today can deny we deserved something from it.”

The result saw Chelsea slip to second in the Premier League standings behind new leaders Manchester United, while Newcastle remain in the top half of the table.