Chelsea transformed an inherently solid and controlled performance in the first half into a well-deserved 2-0 advantage at halftime, despite a fairly obvious penalty that was not scored for Tammy Abraham. Sure, Lascelles won the ball, but it went over Abraham’s ankle – and, in fact, the young striker had to be removed a few minutes later.
The cosmic scales balanced slightly when Abraham’s replacement, Olivier Giroud, opened the scoring shortly after entering, with Timo “bloody lips” Werner creating the opportunity with a beautiful low cross. Werner himself entered the scorecard after almost 1000 minutes of the Premier League, and it was all smiles for the men in Azul.
Newcastle left with a lot of intention in the second half and caused some nervous moments with the intense pressure, but Chelsea ended up calming down and regaining control. Some half-chances for Hudson-Odoi begged, and Lascelles escaped with yet another penalty, this time after pushing Werner from behind.
But Chelsea remained in control and saw the rest of the game without much trouble. We won’t win any prizes for that, but we also avoid heart attacks.
Task completed. The first four again.
Carefree.
- Four changes since last weekend, with both full-backs turned, Abraham getting the nod in front of Giroud and Kepa having a surprise start
- Kepa’s first Premier League game since 3-3 against Southampton four months ago. It hasn’t been much tested, if at all, which has been a consistent feature of Tuchel’s defensive configurations
- Olivier Giroud’s 100th appearance as a substitute in the Premier League. His 21st career goal as a substitute for PL, good for the second of all time behind Jermain Defoe.
- Kanté for Mount meant a change to a 3-5-2 in the last 20 minutes, with Jorginho at the base of the Sarri-style midfield triangle.
- Switching from James to Hudson-Odoi in the later side again the final change
- VAR, what’s the use again?
- Chelsea have won four consecutive league games for the first time this season. Tuchel remains undefeated, with 13 points out of 15 in the championship, five games without conceding goals in six in all competitions and the only goal conceded in their own goal.
- Chelsea moved up to fourth place, just four points from second place. Many others right behind.
- Next: Southampton missing on Saturday
- KTBFFH
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