Senegalise born striker Papis demba Cisse scored one of the best goals this season as he single-handedly ensured that UEFA champions league finalists Chelsea were made to swallow their pride once again as they suffured a 0-2 defeat at home to Newcastle United.
This puts Chelsea in a tight corner as the qualification for next year's UEFA Champions league now rests on winning the May 19 final show-down with Bayern Munich, or else they do not get to qualify, as Chelsea is now placed 6th position in the Premier League with only 2 matches to go.
Cisse's sensational injury time stunner, dipping and swerving past Petr Cech from miles out on the Newcastle left, ripped into the back of the net to confirm a totally deserved triumph for Alan Pardew's men, the air seemed to be sucked out of the Bridge.
The last few weeks have seen a willing suspension of disbelief, a series of unnatural, at times inconceivable highs, the ultimate peak conquered in the Camp Nou last Tuesday.
Instead, now, another mountain, arguably larger than the rest, looms ahead of a Chelsea side without at least four first-choice starters.
If Spurs or Newcastle win on Sunday when they play Aston Villa and Manchester City - a victory which would draw the undying gratitude of Sir Alex Ferguson towards Pardew - respectively, Chelsea will be doomed to finish outside the top four for the first time in 10 seasons.
It means, surely, that anything less than a win over Bayern Munich in the Allianz Arena will doom Chelsea to the Europa League, humiliatingly no longer a member of the continental elite, making it far, far harder to attract the players needed to rebuild and regenerate, more difficult still to land a managerial superstar.
And the need for new blood, if not a new hand at the tiller - the sheer demands of so many games have made Di Matteo, who inherited a mess of a club from Andre Villa-Boas, a master plate-spinner - was never more clear than last night.
Di Matteo made six changes from the side that had hammered QPR, seeking to refresh, but this was a Chelsea running on empty.
Only Fernando Torres, a player reborn, had anything like the spark and zest realise, and by the time Chelsea had Juan Mata, Didier Drogba and Frank Lampard all on the pitch as the Seventh Cavalry, it was too late for the rescue attempt to work.
And neither, in truth, would it have deserved to.
Once Chelsea's initial spurt was extinguished, Pardew's men, with Cisse and Demba Ba unusually operating as a front pairing ahead of a midfield quartet including Cheik Tiote - fears over whose horror-looking second half injury were not realised - showed class and quality.
That was exemplified by the opener, 19 minutes in.
Davide Santon danced down the left and teased in to Cisse, who took one touch with his right foot, which lifted the ball into the air, before slamming into the top corner with his left before Branislav Ivanovic could even get close.
Torres tried to bring his team on top - the otherwise invisible Florent Malouda's wasteful header wide from a great cross by the Spaniard was inches wide.
But without Cech's reflexes to foil Ba, Ryan Bertrand's block on the line when Mike Williamson flicked on and then the crossbar as Ba thundered against it, the game would have been over by the break.
Di Matteo sent on Mata, then - after Tiote, caught by John Obi Mikel's elbow but who fell horribly and left on a stretcher with an oxygen bag - Drogba, finally Lampard.
It was to no avail, vain penalty shouts ignored by Mark Halsey, only really coming close when Santon was on hand to clear John Terry's flying header off the line.
And just as the home fans urged their men to make the most of the 10 minutes of stoppage time, Cisse struck again, lashing across the ball when Shola Ameobi knocked down and leaving Cech grasping thin air as he claimed his 13th in just 12 games since arriving from Freiburg.
Pardew leapt into the arms of his coaching staff, Chelsea slumped, Di Matteo stood there impassive.
Unlike Sunday, though, there were no smiles on Roman Abramovich's face. Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
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