They have obviously learned a lesson from last season.
Branislav Ivanovic avoided a red card before scoring the winner as Chelsea broke Aston Villa's stubborn resistance to win Wednesday night's Barclays Premier League clash at Stamford Bridge.
Ivanovic headed in a Frank Lampard free-kick unopposed after 73 minutes as debate raged over whether the Chelsea right-back should even have still been on the pitch.
Referee Kevin Friend had booked the Serbia defender moments earlier for catching Christian Benteke with a flailing arm in an aerial challenge which infuriated Villa boss Paul Lambert.
All the attention was on Jose Mourinho's return in Sunday's defeat of Hull, but the self-proclaimed Special One wanted to shift the focus to his team, who endured an altogether more difficult test than on Villa's most recent visit to Stamford Bridge.
Villa were beaten 8-0 last December, but were in buoyant mood following the 3-1 opening day win at Arsenal and determined to claim the scalp of another title contender.
Antonio Luna scored late on at the Emirates Stadium and was on target again, only this time into his own net following a Brad Guzan save from an Eden Hazard shot.
Benteke, whose double accounted for Arsenal, scored his third goal of the season with the final kick of the first half to equalise.
It came after a dart down the left from Gabriel Agbonlahor which is the kind of play which could bring the forward into England contention again.
Then, just as Villa looked their most threatening, Ivanovic struck Benteke before breaching the visitors' defence as Mourinho's unbeaten home record in the Premier League was extended.
The Portuguese has never lost in 62 top-flight matches at Stamford Bridge and next Monday takes his side to Manchester United for an early title bout, where transfer target Wayne Rooney is sure to be the focus of attention.
Newcastle United Fixtures ...
Saturday August 24
15:00 Premier League Newcastle United v West Ham United
Wednesday August 28
19:45 League Cup - 2nd Rnd Morecambe v Newcastle United *Sky Sports
Saturday August 31
15:00 Premier League Newcastle United v Fulham
Saturday September 14
15:00 Premier League Aston Villa v Newcastle United
Saturday September 21
15:00 Premier League Newcastle United v
Hull City
Monday September 30
20:00 Premier League Everton v Newcastle United *Sky Sports
Premier League fixtures ...
Wednesday August 21
19:45 Chelsea v Aston Villa
Saturday August 24
12:45 Fulham v Arsenal
15:00 Everton v West Brom
15:00 Hull City v Norwich City
15:00 Newcastle United v West Ham United
15:00 Southampton v Sunderland
15:00 Stoke City v Crystal Palace
17:30 Aston Villa v Liverpool
Sunday August 25
16:00 Cardiff City v Manchester City
16:00 Tottenham v Swansea City
Monday August 26
20:00 Man Utd v Chelsea
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Squad Numbers ...
1 Krul, Timothy Michael
2 Coloccini, Fabricio
3 Santon, Davide
4 Cabaye, Yohan
6 Williamson, Michael James
7 Sissoko, Moussa
8 Anita, Vurnon San Benito
9 Cisse, Papiss Demba
10 Ben Arfa, Hatem
11 Gouffran, Yoan
13 Yanga-Mbiwa, Mapou
14 Remy, Loic
15 Gosling, Daniel
16 Taylor, Ryan Anthony
17 Amalfitano, Romain
18 Gutierrez, Jonas Manuel
19 Haidara, Massadio
20 Bigirimana, Gael
21 Elliot, Robert
22 Marveaux, Sylvain
23 Ameobi, Foluwashola
24 Tiote, Cheik Ismael
25 Obertan, Gabriel Antoine
26 Debuchy, Mathieu
27 Taylor, Steven Vincent
28 Ameobi, Samuel
29 Vuckic, Haris
33 Good, Curtis
34 Tavernier, James Henry
36 Dummett, Paul
41 Newton, Conor
42 Alnwick, Jak
44 Streete, Remie
49 Campbell, Adam