Newcastle United 2-0 Chelsea, Premier League: Post-match reaction, ratings

In the biggest game of the season, Chelsea came out slow, sleepy, and unfocused, and conceded with barely 100 seconds on the clock, getting caught in possession in our own defensive third and then letting a runner go free at the far post.

That early goal only served to galvanize the home side and the raucous home support, with Newcastle’s football full of purpose and direct intent. Thankfully they wasted numerous promising opportunities.

Eventually we got a bit of a foothold in the game, but produced little more than a bit of insipid possession. Newcastle countered at will, often with numbers. Thankfully, they wasted these chances, too.

But frustrations grew from the Blues, and a rather unwise challenge from Nicolas Jackson saw us go down to ten. Jackson probably didn’t intend to smack Botman right across the nose with a forearm, but that’s precisely what he did on a ball he had no hope or intent of winning. On the pitch, it was deemed a yellow, but VAR prompted a review and a red followed soon after. A bit harsh, but also a lot silly from Nico.

Chelsea made it to the half without any further major drama, though also without much hope of turning things around.

That hope was a bit renewed after the break, with Chelsea playing with actual purpose and even some tempo despite being a player down. But clear chances were still few and far between.

Newcastle continued to show little interest in exerting any control via possession, but we were unable to take advantage. Cucurella and Enzo came close with a couple decent efforts, but could not best the Newcastle goalkeeper.

Reece James then had perhaps the best chance of the night, but put his header over the bar with just two minutes to go in regulation. And then Bruno G scored at the other end via a lucky deflection on a long shot, and that was that.

Football is about goals and winning, and we did neither.

Carefree.

• Lineup unchanged for the third match in a row. Didn’t work quite as well as against the Merseyside teams however, with Newcastle more than happy to sit back and watch us dink the ball around
• James on at the half, with Chelsea switching to a 4-4-1 with Palmer up top, Enzo on the left-ish, Caicedo and Lavia in actual midfield, Cucurella bombing up the left.
• Back-three for the final 15, a sort of 3-3-3
• Chelsea stay fifth, for now, but Nottingham Forest play against Leicester City shortly and would go above us with a victory
• Next up: Manchester United at the Bridge on Friday
• KTBFFH

PLAYER RATINGS: