What we learned from the loss against Chelsea

Newcastle United played well enough to earn a draw, but a second half strike from Willian gave Chelsea all three points.

Newcastle United did not back down from Chelsea at Stamford Bridge yesterday, but the home side did just enough to secure a 2-1 victory against the Magpies. After conceding an early goal, Newcastle looked lost, but they gradually began to take the game to Chelsea and played some decent football.

Newcastle have fallen back into the bottom three after this loss and they will now turn their attention to Cardiff City to claim some much-needed points to climb the table. Before looking ahead to next weekend, let us analyze some things from the loss against Chelsea.

Lejeune and Longstaff

In a busy month with several matches, such as January, it makes sense for a manager to make changes to his starting eleven, but no one saw this coming. It was great to see Florian Lejeune make his first start for Newcastle United since recovering from his knee surgery this summer. An even greater surprise was the fact that Sean Longstaff started and played the entire match for Newcastle against a top four side away from home.

The defender and midfielder played well and they found ways to have an impact in the game. Lejeune did a good job of obstructing ground passes from the wing and he made some important clearances. Longstaff did a decent job intercepting passes in the middle of the park. It would not be a surprise to see the duo play again next weekend against Cardiff City.

Urgency in Midfield

The Magpies had two slow periods in this match – at the very start and after conceding the second goal – but they looked good for a total of 40 minutes. Newcastle’s midfielders were never able to create plays for Salomon Rondon up the middle, but they succeeded in frustrating Chelsea by winning most duels and intercepting several passes. This urgency enabled Newcastle to gain some confidence, especially after Ciaran Clark scored the equalizing goal before halftime.

Second Goal

Willian’s goal in the 57th minute was impressive and he deserved the standing ovation he received after scoring. The problem with his goal, however, is that it could have, and should have, been avoided. DeAndre Yedlin was keeping up with Willian down the flank, but the American international decided to give the Brazilian winger too much space to dribble into the box and fire a cracking shot. This mistake cannot happen in other matches going forward because it proved to be a costly mistake that took a precious point away from the Magpies.