Newcastle United deserved to lose to the Blues earlier this season.
After a draw in the FA Cup over the weekend, Newcastle United will travel to Stamford Bridge to face Chelsea on Saturday. Earlier in the season, the Magpies almost secured a surprise point before a late goal doomed them at home. We take a look back at that reverse fixture.
The Result
Chelsea 2, Newcastle United 1
The Details
8/26 at St. James’ Park
The Lineups
Newcastle United (5-4-1)
Dubravka, Schar, Fernandez, Clark, Dummett, Ritchie, Diame, Ki, Murphy, Rondon
Substitutes: Muto, Perez, Joselu
Chelsea (4-3-3)
Kepa, Azpilicueta, Rudiger, Luiz, Alonso, Kante, Jorginho, Kovacic, Pedro, Morata, Hazard
Substitutes: Barkley, Giroud, Willian
The Recap
Newcastle United would have been absolutely over the moon and remarkably lucky to get a point from this match vs. Chelsea. Maurizio Sarri’s side outplayed Rafa Benitez’s side up and down the pitch at St. James’ Park. This was the first match of a major trend this season with Newcastle United sitting incredibly deep, allow their opponent to hold the ball, defending frantically, and hoping for a chance here and there on the break. That strategy against an offensively talented side like Chelsea led to some of the most lopsided statistics in a Premier League match this season. Chelsea held 82% of possession and finished with over 700 more passes completed than the Toon. Newcastle also finished with double the fouls of the Blues.
Despite these ridiculous numbers, the match was scoreless until the 76th minute. Fabian Schar slid in to dispossess Marcos Alonso in the penalty area and the referee felt he made too much contact with the Chelsea man, despite getting the ball first. Eden Hazard beat Martin Dubravka for the opening score. In shocking fashion, Newcastle United equalized seven minutes later. DeAndre Yedlin received a long aerial ball on the wing, delivering an elbow to Olivier Giroud’s face in the process. Joselu beat David Luiz to Yedlin’s cross and buried a header past Kepa.
FLASH POLL: With Ref Watch coming up at half 11, we want to know your thoughts. Fabian Schar on Marcos Alonso - penalty or no penalty? #NEWCHE #SSN
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) August 27, 2018
Unfortunately, karma would come back to get Yedlin in the 87th minute. A ball from Alonso, potentially a shot or pass to a cutting Ross Barkley was redirected into the back of the net by Yedlin and doomed Newcastle United to a much-deserved loss.
This loss would be the first of four straight for Newcastle United, including a cup defeat to Nottingham Forest in the following match.