Chelsea went into their game against Newcastle United on Saturday without Romelu Lukaku, Timo Werner, Christian Pulisic, Mateo Kovacic, and Mason Mount who was sent home due to an unspecified illness. Despite the mass of absences, Chelsea also went into this fixture confident of getting a result against the 19th placed side, especially after their 7-0 thrashing of bottom-of-the-table Norwich City last week. This wasn’t as easy a match as against the Canaries, but Chelsea did end up romping to a 3-0 victory, strengthening their standing at the top of the table.
Chelsea Ease Past Newcastle Despite Injury Woes
Lacking The Finishing Touch
Chelsea played the game without a recognized striker on the field as Callum Hudson-Odoi, Kai Havertz, and Hakim Ziyech started as their attacking trio in yet another display of the ridiculous attacking depth Chelsea possess. The Blues dominated the first half, and most of the second, finishing with 79.3% possession in the game. Newcastle opted for a defence-heavy strategy which allowed the London side’s wide players a lot of space to attack, especially throughout the first 45 minutes. What quickly became clear is that Chelsea were missing the finishing touch of a striker like Lukaku as they failed to get a single shot on target before halftime despite all of the opportunities that fell their way. Chelsea did have the ball in the net in the first half thanks to Ziyech but his goal was quickly ruled out for offside.
Newcastle weren’t offering much in resistance with goalkeeper Karl Darlow in particular being very poor in his distribution throughout the first period. They did manage to carve out some opportunities but also went into the break without a shot on target.
Easing To Victory
The second half looked like it would go the same way as the first with Chelsea having a lot of freedom going forwards and few worries defensively, but in the 65th minute, Reece James broke the deadlock and put Thomas Tuchel’s side ahead. From then on the Blues were able to cruise to victory with James adding a second just 12 minutes later before a Jorginho penalty sealed Newcastle’s fate. It was the kind of game that needed a goal, and once Chelsea got it, Newcastle couldn’t muster up a response and the victory was secured.
After heroically saving Chelsea against Brentford two weeks ago, Edouard Mendy has had an easy couple of games in the Premier League.
Chelsea now have a three-point lead atop the table over Liverpool after both the Reds and Manchester City failed to win. Pep Guardiola’s side are now five points off the Blues.
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