St. James’ Park welcomed Chelsea for Saturday’s blockbuster fixture. Newcastle killed Chelsea’s hope to go into the World Cup break in the top 6 with a hard-fought 1-0 victory. Here’s the match reaction:
1st Half
Newcastle were the better team in the first half. They moved the ball with speed while pressing and counter pressing with intensity. However, Chelsea were defensively solid and limited “The Magpies” to shots from outside of the box.
The home team’s first chance fell at the feet of the in-form Miguel Almirón. Joe Willock made a lovely third man run down the left flank, beat his man then whipped in a weighted cross to Chris Wood. A Chelsea defender came out victorious in the aerial battle but the ball fell at the feet of Almiron who skied it over the bar.
Chelsea responded in the 27th minute. Jorginho found Mount in acres of space. He drove with the ball before picking out Lewis Hall who crossed it into Broja in the box. He worked it onto his left foot but could only shoot straight at the keeper.
Both teams went into the locker rooms needing improvement if either were going to get all three points from this match.
2nd Half
Newcastle started the second half on the ascendancy. They got two great chances in the space of one minute but both were blocked. Minutes later, Willock found himself on the left wing again, whipped in a teasing ball but no one was there to convert.
Image Credit: Scott Heppell/Reuters
An intense pressing sequence from Chelsea forced Guimarães to turn over the ball near his own box. It fell to Gallagher’s feet and he forced Nick Pope into a great save.
Four minutes later, Newcastle’s efforts were rewarded. Miguel Almirón took some neat touches to get away from Kalidou Koulibaly, played in Willock who fired it into the right corner to give his team the lead.
Newcastle held on to their lead and won the game. Chelsea have now lost three games in a row and go into the World Cup break in 8th position.
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