WILL POWER IS JUST TOO MUCH FOR TOON
CHELSEA ............. 2 NEWCASTLE ........ 1
AURIZIO SARRI made his point – but the Chelsea boss will be glad he doesn’t have to walk a mile in Rafa Benitez’s shoes. PAUL LAMBERT breathed a huge sigh of relief as his new boys helped him to just his second win as Ipswich boss.
Lambert added beef to his side with four new signings making their home debuts – and it paid dividends.
On-loan Hull striker Will Keane netted the winner while James Collins was a rock at the back.
Lambert said of his additions: “They gave everybody a lift and they will get fitter.” worked wonders with a pittance. There was even a first league start for 21-year-old local lad Sean Longstaff in midfield.
And while Sarri’s priorities lie at the opposite end of the table, the sound of his
£43million signing Jorginho being jeered by fans for his umpteenth wayward pass will have stung.
The Chelsea boss has used
Eden Hazard as a central striker before – usually when he was worried about being overrun in midfield by the slick-passing teams at the top of the table.
This time it left his side without a physical spearhead able to compete with Newcastle’s three giant central defenders.
It looked like a routine day at the office for the Blues when they took the lead after eight minutes.
David Luiz’s pass dropped over the head of Clark and Pedro lobbed it over Martin Dubravka. The visitors equalised via Clark’s meaty header before Willian delivered the killer blow. ADAM ARMSTRONG played the role of super-sub as Blackburn produced a smash-and-grab raid at Millwall.
A gritty game bereft of chances was heading for a goalless draw when Armstrong, a 74th-minute introduction from the bench, changed all that.
He set up Joe Nuttall to give the visitors the lead in the 87th minute and then broke away to net Rovers’ second 60 seconds later to send his side up to 14th in the table. SWANSEA boss Graham Potter disputed the penalty decision which cost his side a victory against ten-man Preston.
Courtney Baker-Richardson’s goal put Potter’s side on track for a second successive league win.
But defender Connor Roberts was adjudged to have handled Jayden Stockley’s cross and Daniel Johnson netted from the spot.
Preston sub Josh Earl was sent off with nine minutes left after his second yellow card in nine minutes. BOSS Chris insists his Sheffield United players will not get carried away despite their victory over QPR lifting them up to second in the Championship.
The Blades made it four league wins on the bounce and moved to within four points of Leeds courtesy of David McGoldrick’s
10th goal of the season eight minutes before half-time.
Wilder said: “The key for me now is to keep them grounded. We have taken another forward step.”