Another shutout defeat as Newcastle lose 2-0 to Chelsea

Newcastle United were shut out at home in a 2-0 loss vs. Chelsea.

In their return from an international break, Newcastle United were blanked at St. James’ Park as they lose 2-0 to Chelsea. Federico Fernandez put the ball in his own goal early on and Tammy Abraham added another goal in the second half.

Poor Parking of the Bus

Not surprising to anyone, but Steve Bruce set his team up to sit very deep and defend in this one. That defensive shell obviously limits your ability to score at the other end, but it should at least allow the defense to perform well.

Instead, Karl Darlow was called on to make some big saves early and then an own goal from Fernandez put the Magpies behind.

Scoring struggles

Without Callum Wilson due to injury, Newcastle United could only muster one shot on goal today. Sean Longstaff’s strike off the crossbar was the closest chance, but the Magpies were shut out for the second consecutive match.

Quick Kicks

• Joelinton turned in a pretty solid performance today. He was confident in his dribbling and made the right pass more times than not.
• Newcastle United struggle to connect on crosses. There were stretches of the match that sending the ball in from out wide was the primary strategy and rarely led to any danger in front of goal.
• Speaking of poor deliveries, Sean Longstaff has been dismal on set pieces, especially corners.
• Longstaff was also one of the players that Timo Werner flew by on the counter-attack to set up Abraham’s insurance goal.
• Another match where Newcastle needed a star performance from Allan Saint-Maximin and didn’t receive one.
• Possession ended up close to 30% for Newcastle after it was around 20% for a chunk of the match.

What’s Next?

Newcastle United will be back in action on Friday as they take on currently 8th-place Crystal Palace. Roy Hodgson’s side plays Burnley on the road on Monday.