Newcastle United travelled to Stamford Bridge to face Frank Lampard’s Chelsea on Saturday. The Blues were in dominant form as they thrashed Southampton 4-1 away from home in their last match before the international break. Newcastle, on the other hand, came from an impressive 1-0 win at home against Manchester United.
The match was expected to be a thrilling encounter with Steve Bruce and his side hoping to pull off another upset.
The match started with Chelsea on the front foot. They dominated possession and created chances. Callum Hudson-Odoi played multiple balls in and was a threat throughout the match.
And in the 16th minute, Hudson-Odoi whipped in a cross from the left flank, to find Willian in the box, whose header was just wide. The first half saw a couple of chances created but all of them were denied by Magpies’ goalkeeper Martin Dubravka.
Ross Barkley suffered a knock towards the end of the first half and was subbed off for Mateo Kovacic.
After holding a dominant Chelsea side in the first half, Newcastle were hoping to get the better of the Blues in the second half.
Chelsea were dominant again in the second half, with keeping around 3/4th of the possession. And they were rewarded for this in the 73rd minute as Pulisic crossed a low ball in the box, which was helped by Hudson-Odoi onto Marcos Alonso, who hit a low strike past Dubravka into the back of the net as Chelsea took the lead. And soon after, Tammy Abraham found himself in front of an empty goal, however his effort was intercepted brilliantly by DeAndre Yedlin.
Both teams tried to find the back of the net, with Newcastle winger Allan Saint-Maximin often running with the ball forward but none were able to change the scoreline as the match ended 1-0 in favor of the home side.
Steve Bruce’s side put up a performance to be proud of and fans may think that he is the right man to lead the club.
Chelsea return to action in the Champions League this Wednesday when they face Ajax away from home.
Newcastle will fancy their chances against a struggling Wolves side when they host them next Sunday.
Player Ratings
Chelsea:
Kepa: 7
Marcos Alonso: 8
Fikayo Tomori: 7
Kurt Zouma: 8
Azpilicueta: 7
Ross Barkley: 6
Jorginho: 8
Callum Hudson-Odoi: 9
Mason Mount: 6
Willian: 8
Tammy Abraham: 7
Subs:
Mateo Kovacic: 7
Christian Pulisic: 6
Reece James: N/A
Newcastle:
Martin Dubravka: 7
Jetro Willems: 6
Ciaran Clark: 6
Jamaal Lascelles: 6
Fabian Schar: 5
DeAndre Yedlin: 7
Allan Saint-Maximin: 7
Sean Longstaff: 6
Matthew Longstaff: 5
Miguel Almiron: 6
Joelinton: 5
Subs:
Andy Carroll: 6
Christian Atsu: N/A
Dwight Gayle: N/A
