10 May 2025
Newcastle 2 Chelsea 0
Only one place separated these sides in the table coming into this game. Both have their attentions set on finishing in the top five to secure Champions League qualification. Newcastle welcomed Chelsea to St James’ Park with a packed stadium, Eddie Howe’s side were hoping to put their future in their own hands with an important three points.
The Magpies started on the front foot and looked to put The Blues under severe pressure. Gordon looked to make a run into the box but was eased off the ball by Caicedo. As he played it to Lavia, Tonali won it back for the hosts. It was worked out wide and Murphy put a teasing cross into the box for the Italian to finish at the back post to give the hosts the lead.
St James’ Park erupted as the ball nestled in the net with only two minutes gone. Maresca’s side were showing the defensive frailties that had been costing them all season. Despite this, you will hear pundits saying how great Colwill and Chalobah have been, some of the most deluded views in the game come from people who should know better.
Newcastle were playing some crisp, passing football and the visitors could not cope. They were slicing through the Chelsea defence like a hot knife through butter. Barnes had a sight of goal but his scuffed effort was never going to cause Sanchez any problems. The Blues were struggling to get a foothold in the game and were mainly passengers in the early stages.
As a long ball was played up towards Jackson, Botman went down in a heap on the floor. The referee brandished a yellow card to the striker, as he seemed to catch the defender with a stray arm. VAR reviewed it and sent the referee to the monitor. Moments later he returned to the pitch and upgraded his decision to a straight red card.
Howe’s side almost made the visitors pay immediately. As a free-kick was swung into the box, Burn had a free header, which narrowly missed the far corner. The assistant then decided to raise their flag for an offside from some incident in the season. This rule needs to change, the delay between spotting and notifying an offside is nothing short of ludicrous in the modern game.
It was all Newcastle in the first-half. Before they were even reduced to ten men Chelsea were struggling to compete. Once Jackson was given his marching orders, they did not even have an out ball to give their defence a breather. Enzo Maresca was going to have to come up with some new tactics at the interval if his side were going to get anything from this match.
Chelsea started the second-half with a little more of a positive outlook. Palmer tried his luck from some way out but it was a simple save for Pope. Newcastle immediately countered and Livramento threaded a pass in towards Gordon. He went down under the challenge of James but the referee was not interested in awarding a foul at all.
This is a part of the winger’s game that he needs to work upon. Gordon goes down easier than Southampton and has now got himself a name for doing so. As a result, he is unlikely to get a decision if he is genuinely fouled in the box. He has turned into the original ‘boy who cried wolf’ and should be adding more physicality to his threat as an attacker.
As the visitors came forward again, Palmer spotted an unmarked Cucurella at the back post and clipped a pass into the Spaniard. He took one touch to get it under control before drilling a shot towards the far corner. Pope got down well to make a brilliant save to deny him. With only a one-goal lead, The Magpies were open to being hit with a Chelsea sucker-punch.
The match had really opened up towards the latter stages and was real end-to-end stuff. Murphy lifted a superb pass over Cucurella but Guimaraes sliced his effort high and wide of the target. Moments later, Neto drifted a pass over The Magpies’ defence into Sancho. He laid it off to Fernandez, whose first-time shot was tipped over the crossbar by Pope.
Gusto played a brilliant little cross into James in the middle. The Chelsea defender had a free header but sent his effort over the crossbar. You felt that was Maresca’s side big chance to get something from this game. The manager stood on the touchline with his head in his hands. Time was running out and their top five hopes were becoming more distant.
The Magpies were awarded a free-kick deep in the Chelsea half. It was played to Burn out wide, who looked for a one-two from Guimaraes. The Brazilian opted to cut inside and get a shot away, which took a huge deflection and looped over Sanchez into the top corner of the goal. Newcastle took a massive three points and took a giant step towards getting back into the Champions League.
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