No case for the defence amid now familiar Magpies chaos
UNITED EVERY INCH A MID-TABLE TEAM
NEWCASTLE United’s Stamford Bridge hoodoo goes on following a damaging 3-2 defeat against Chelsea.
Nicolas Jackson gave Chelsea the lead early on before Alexander Isak drew Newcastle level with a superb finish just before half-time.
Goals from Cole Palmer and Mykhailo Mudryk put Chelsea in command in the second half, although substitute Jacob Murphy did pull one back for the visitors late on with a rocket.
Here are five things we learned from the game.
Mid-table Newcastle make Chelsea look good
Howe clearly wanted to get on the front foot ... but this side have struggled to do that for a while now
Few would have anticipated this ending up being a meeting between 10th and 11th when the fixtures were announced at the start of the campaign, but Newcastle looked every inch a mid-table side on Monday night.
Having set out to press Chelsea high – Alexander Isak, Miguel Almiron and Anthony Gordon were right on the edge of Djordje Petrovic’s box for goal kicks – the Magpies quickly settled the hosts’ nerves by giftwrapping the opener in just the sixth minute following a catalogue of errors at the back.
First, Malo Gusto found it far too easy to skip past Dan Burn down the right and get a cross away.
Then, Martin Dubravka crouched down to gather the ball, but Sven Botman got there first and casually cleared as far as Cole Palmer on the edge of the area.
Finally Palmer, Chelsea’s danger man, had all the time he needed to take a touch before rifling on the volley and Nicolas Jackson cleverly diverted the ball into the net with a flick of his heel.
If Newcastle’s defending was poor for Chelsea’s first goal, well, it was even worse for the Blues’ second after the visitors had got back into the game.
Dan Burn sliced his clearance out for a throw-in under no real pressure in the build-up and Gusto then had so many unmarked options nearby and threw the ball back to Moises Caicedo, who Miguel Almiron casually jogged to close down.
Caicedo played the ball to Enzo Fernandez who, similarly, had all the time and space he needed and the World Cup winner drew the black-and-white shirts to him before threading the ball to Palmer. The Chelsea star took a touch inside before whipping the ball past Dubravka. There was still time – lots of it – for substitute Mykhailo Mudryk to get in on the act.
Newcastle defenders were far too high up the field and Botman failed to stop Jackson wriggling away.
Jackson raced up the field and although Newcastle got players back, the striker squared it to Conor
Gallagher and Mudryk nipped in to dance into the box and round Dubravka to make it 3-1.
It was the 32nd goal Newcastle had conceded on their travels in the Premier League this season.
Damningly, that is as many as bottom-of-the-table Sheffield United.
Newcastle will strengthen this summer, but even if the Premier League introduce new financial rules by then, the Magpies will still be limited by what they can spend with the top flight aligning with UEFA’s regulations, which will ultimately allow up to 70% of revenues to go on transfer fees, wages and agents’ fees. Those already at the club have to defend better.
Early ‘oles’ add to agony of defeat
Mauricio Pochettino and Todd Boehly will never have heard such abuse from opposition fans – let alone from their own set of supporters – but those expletive-laden chants in the away end at Brentford last time out reflected the frustration of Chelsea followers. Pochettino
could not help but admit that he hoped ‘one day here they support me in the same way’ Newcastle fans have backed Eddie Howe.
This game looked ripe for Newcastle to frustrate a mutinous crowd, and get a first win here since 2012, but Pochettino need not have worried. The Argentinian got the game and result he needed.
Chelsea fans, who had been so quiet, even at 1-0 up, found their voice and taunted, “No noise from the Saudi boys!” after retaking the lead before a rendition of “Champions of Europe – you’ll never sing that!”
By the time Chelsea went 3-1 up, the home support were shouting ‘ole!’ every time their side completed a pass. There was still a quarter of an hour to go.
Although Jacob Murphy did pull one back with an absolute rocket late on to set up a grandstand finish, a point would have flattered Newcastle.
Alexander Isak’s moment of magic is in vain
It was just before half-time when Chelsea fumbled around in the middle of the park and Bruno Guimaraes dinked the ball into Isak’s path.
The record signing took two deft touches before picking out the bottom corner from the edge of the area with a Thierry Henry-esque finish.
When they needed him most, in that first half, Isak stepped up for Newcastle and that should not come as a surprise; each of the Sweden international’s last eight Premier League goals have either drawn Newcastle level or put them one goal in the lead. Isak deserved more on Monday night.
Anthony Gordon’s pain in front of Gareth Southgate
“Very close.” Those were the words of Southgate when the England boss spoke about Anthony Gordon’s senior international prospects back in November.
The forward, arguably, has only kicked on since then, scoring goals against Chelsea, Manchester United, Manchester City and others.
In fact, Gordon has been consistent with his numbers and been directly involved in 15 goals in the Premier League this season, which puts him up there with some of England’s most inform wide men.
With Southgate and assistant Steve Holland watching on at Stamford Bridge, Gordon would have been eager to impress in one final audition before the England manager named his squad for the friendlies against Brazil and Belgium tomorrow.
However, Gordon did not look right after picking up a knock in the early stages.
Not only did Gordon, uncharacteristically, fail to track back to protect Dan Burn, the Scouser struggled to get past Malo Gusto.
It got to the stage where Howe even got Gordon and Almiron to swap sides in the hope that would spark Newcastle into life, but a change of personnel was soon needed when the former went down in the 35th minute.
You could see the agony Gordon was in when Sean Beech, the club’s head of rehabilitation, bent his left knee and the forward hobbled off and was replaced by Murphy.
Having already lost Harvey Barnes to a slight hamstring issue, before a ball was even kicked on Monday night, Newcastle continue to be ravaged by injuries – just when it looked like the treatment room might start to clear.
Game plan does not pay dividends
Having tweaked their game plan against Wolves, allowing Gary O’Neil’s team to have possession before hurting them with their pace on the counter in a 3-0 win, Newcastle had a blueprint of sorts to take to Stamford Bridge.
The sort of game plan that had thwarted Chelsea for so long when these sides last met at the Carabao Cup – only for Newcastle to concede a 92nd-minute equaliser.
However, Howe clearly, wanted to get on the front foot and take the game to Chelsea, just as Newcastle do at their very best, but this side have struggled to do that for a while now and this was a familiarly chaotic display.
Newcastle certainly can’t afford to rock up to the Etihad and play like this on Saturday.