Toon Takeaways from Newcastle United’s 1-0 loss at Chelsea

A narrow defeat for Newcastle United at Stamford Bridge.

Newcastle United battled, played on the break, and made last-second stops, but they came up short on the road vs. Chelsea. A Marcos Alonso goal late in the second half gave the Blues a 1-0 win over the Magpies.

Top Toons

Allan Saint-Maximin: Trying to play on the break, the game-changing Frenchman led the charge when he had the ball at his feet. He pressed the attack forward with his pace and elite dribbling ability.

Ciaran Clark: It seemed like every time there was a decisive tackle in the penalty area, Clark was responsible. He made a few major last-second interventions and impressed enough to likely keep his spot.

Joelinton: He did really well to hold up play and combine with Saint-Maximin and Miguel Almiron on the break.

Mediocre Magpies

Fabian Schar: I’m as surprised as anyone that the typically steady defender is in this category. His passing was a bit off and he was a tad reckless with some of his challenges. He’s set a high standard for himself and today’s performance was below that bar.

Jetro Willems: Twice, he let Christian Pulisic get behind him in dangerous moments. Thankfully, both times the Blues didn’t find the net.

Quick Kicks

• Martin Dubravka made some quality saves, including from point-blank range on a couple of occasions, but he could have done better on Marcos Alonso’s goal.
• The positive moments for Newcastle United were much more frequent in the first half. Chelsea did well to cut out some of those counter-attacking runs and Newcastle also gave the ball away a bit too easy in the midfield.
• Holding less than 30% possession, the Longstaff brothers couldn’t control a lot of the action and were relied upon to spark counter-attacks with quick distribution. Matty didn’t look overwhelmed on the road vs. the Blues in his second start and he was always willing to go after the ball, even when he was the smaller player by a comfortable margin.
• Overall, it was a pretty decent performance for Steve Bruce’s side against a top-three side. But, the loss pushes them back into a relegation zone spot for the time being.

What’s Next?

The Magpies will return home next weekend to face Wolves on Sunday. Wolverhampton finished level with Southampton today and currently occupy the 12th position on the Premier League table.