A late own goal gave Chelsea a 2-1 victory over Newcastle United at St. James’ Park today.
This match was supposed to be entertaining and competitive so early in the season, but instead it was a one-sided affair that was completely dominated by Chelsea from the start. All three of the goals in this match came after the 75th minute and Newcastle’s late urgency was insufficient to steal a point from the Blues.
Newcastle were overly defensive today and showed excessive respect to Chelsea. Yes, Chelsea is off to a magnificent start this season and they are dangerous, but parking the bus was too extreme. As a result, several Magpies failed to play well.
Top Toons
Martin Dubravka – the keeper is not to blame for the two goals he conceded. Dubravka made some big saves in this match that prevented Chelsea from scoring three or four goals.
Joselu – the Spaniard was not all that active in this match as a second-half substitute, but he did what he was supposed to – scored a goal for Newcastle.
Ki Sung-yueng – compared to the other players making their full debuts, the South Korean midfielder played the best as he looked composed and worked well with Mohamed Diame in the middle.
Mediocre Magpies
DeAndre Yedlin – the speedy defender came back from his injury today, but he was beaten on the wing multiple times and his own goal put the icing on the cake for Chelsea.
Fabian Schar – the Swiss international defender played with plenty of aggression today, but his ill-advised tackle in the box essentially wasted the club’s defensive effort against Chelsea.
Quick Kicks
– Newcastle might be the worst passing team in the Premier League as the Magpies only completed a mere 200 passes against Chelsea.
– Chelsea looked like an unstoppable side with 82 percent of the possession and 913 completed passes in 95 minutes of action.
– Rafa Benitez did not utilize Salomon Rondon properly today as he kept the Venezuelan isolated while the rest of the team parked the bus.
– Newcastle have now lost their second straight match at home. The Magpies need to find a way to earn positive results at St. James’ Park with the support of their fans.
What’s Next?
Newcastle will travel to the Etihad to face Manchester City. Seeing that Manchester City were able to score six goals against Huddersfield, Newcastle have plenty of reasons to worry. If the Magpies play the way they did today against Chelsea then they stand no chance. If Benitez can learn to trust his players more and take some offensive risks, Newcastle might be more competitive and would force the Cityzens to defend more than they would like.