Chelsea were stunned by two titanic goals from Papiss Cisse that effectively ended the already slim hopes the Blues had of finishing fourth in the Premier League.
Trailing the Geordies by a point, Chelsea needed a win to overtake their opponents and keep on the coattails of Tottenham Hotspur, instead they succumbed to a couple of sublime goals from live wire striker Cisse on 18 minutes and the second deep into injury time at the end of the game.
Resting six players who took apart QPR 6-1 on Sunday and with a nod to Saturday's FA Cup final, Chelsea boss Roberto Di Matteo gambled, hoping for another rousing display from his tiring squad.
Sadly for him and the 41,559 crowd they were disappointed and it badly backfired. But the Blues did start well,
Raul Merieles shot over from just outside the Newcastle penalty area after just 25 seconds after the ball was set up perfectly for the Portugal midfielder by a fine chest down and pass by Fernando Torres.
Torres looked particularly lively in the opening exchanges, on one occasion forcing Cheick Tiote to bundle him over, getting a yellow card for his efforts. From the resultant free kick by Merieles on five minutes, goalkeeper Tim Krul was perfectly placed to grab the powerful 20-yard effort.
A Torres-inspired move on 10 minutes saw the Spain forward get to the visitors' byline.
He cut the ball back across goal. Luckily for Krul, in-running Mikel scuffed a left-footer which went haplessly wide of his goal.
Newcastle ventured up front a minute later and a knock-on by Demba Ba allowed Papiss Cisse to get between John Terry and Branislav Ivanovic, but the Senegal forward, without any support simply sliced the ball back across goal to the waiting Ryan Bertand who cleared.
Ba should have done better a minute later, when, following a deep free-kick, he tried an adventurous overhead kick, eight yards out, which came to nothing.
Newcastle, sensing that the Blues were perhaps suffering from too many games in recent days took the lead in spectacular fashion on 18 minutes.
Davide Santon sailed down the left wing, unfettered, and passed to Cisse on the edge of the Chelsea area. In one fell swoop, he took a simple touch and arrowed an unstoppable left-footer high and wide across across Cech's desperate dive and into the top left hand corner of the goalkeeper's net.
A wild shot by Ramires on the half hour summed up Chelsea's lacklustre and disjointed display.
Chelsea were very unlucky not to level with eight minutes of the half to go. Torres, again the provider, this time a right wing cross into the box, where Florent Malouda's glancing header inched past Krul's exposed right upright.
Cech was forced into a full-stretch when Ba's mazy run resulted in a low left-footer which almost wrong-footing the goalkeeper. He then rattled the Chelsea cross bar with a fierce right-footer, 20 yards out with the half-time whistle about to be blown.
Unsurprisingly Chelsea's interim boss Roberto Di Matteo made a change bringing in Juan Mata for ineffectual Daniel Sturridge.
It almost brought instant dividends when Mata got on the end of a creative piece of skill by Torres but the Spain midfielder's shot was blocked.
Didier Drogba entered the fray on 60 minutes, replacing Malouda.
Mikel clattered into Tiote leaving the Ivory Coast midfielder prone on the grass for 10 minutes before he was carried off on a stretcher with an oxygen mask strapped to his face,
Ryan Taylor came on to take his place on 68 minutes.
Newcastle boss Alan Pardew made his second change with 15 minutes remaining, replacing Ba with Shola Ameobi.
Chelsea stalwart Frank Lampard was brought on to provide much-needed energy on 77 minutes in place of Meireles.
Referee Mark Halsey waved away a potential penalty when Fabricio Coloccini appeared to bundle over Drogba. This was quickly followed by a trademark Lampard blaster that was well off target.
With three minutes remaining Santon headed off the line a Terry bullet header.
Chelsea had 10 added minutes to claw their way back into the game, but five minutes into those 10, Cisse produced an extraordinary goal. He sliced a glorious curling right-footed half-volley from the right apex of Cech's goal. The ball sailed over Cech's flailing body and deep into the far corner of the net.
The three points for the visitors keep them in contention for fourth place consigning the Blues to it the ignominy of perhaps seeing their league campaign peter out.
Teams: Chelsea, Cech, Ivanovic, Ramires, Torres, Mikel, Malouda, Meireles, Bosingwa, Sturridge, Terry, Bertrand. Subs, Turnbull, Cole, Essien, Lampard, Mata, Drogba, Kalou
Newcastle United: Krul, Coloccini, Santon, Cabaye, Williamson, Cisse, Ben Arfa, Perch, Gutierrez, Ba, Tiote. Subs, Elliot, Goslin, Taylor, Marveaux, Ameobi, Obertan, Ferguson.
Ref, Mark Halsey