Seeking to close the gap to Newcastle United, and consequently the top half of the table, Chelsea welcomed the Magpies to Stamford Bridge on Monday night. Mauricio Pochettino’s side were held to a 2-2 draw at Brentford last time out, and would look to make amends for the dropped points as they returned to their home ground.
CHE: Petrović; Cucurella, Chalobah, Disasi, Gusto; Caicedo, Fernández; Sterling, Gallagher, Palmer; Jackson
NEW: Dubravka; Burn, Botman, Schär, Livramento; Willock, Guimarães, Longstaff; Gordon, Isak, Almirón
It took just a little over five minutes for Chelsea to seize the lead in front of their home faithful, as the Blues took full advantage of a poor Sven Botman clearance. Cole Palmer, who has continually impressed since signing from Manchester City, did well to seize possession before teeing up Nicolas Jackson for his second goal in the last two Premier League outings.
But when Alexander Isak found the back of the net from the edge of the box and restored parity, Chelsea’s hopes of a simple victory looked to be called into question. That was until Cole Palmer struck gold just before the hour mark, taking a deft touch before drilling a thunderous effort past Martin Dubravka.
Embed from Getty ImagesMykhailo Mudryk impressed off the bench too, extending the hosts’ advantage in the 76th minute after dancing through the Newcastle United defence, delicately taking the ball around Dubravka to slot home from a tight angle and seemingly put the same to bed.
Jacob Murphy struck gold as the clock ticked over into the red though, stunning Djordje Petrović as he picked out the top corner at the very end of regulation time – but it would prove to be too little, too late for the Magpies.
Eddie Howe’s side face a long journey back home with nothing to show for their toil in the capital city, and while they remain in the top half of the table, Chelsea find themselves trailing by just a point – and the Blues have a game in hand.
Both teams will swap Premier League action for the Emirates FA Cup next weekend, with Newcastle United travelling to face Manchester City on Saturday before Chelsea host Leicester City at lunchtime on Sunday.
