Newcastle vs Chelsea 0-3: James Brace Eases Chelsea to Win

Chelsea secured a comfortable 3-0 victory at St. James’ Park on Saturday afternoon with Reece James scoring a brace for the Blues. 

It was an easy victory for Chelsea in the end who were in complete control of the match throughout the 90 minutes despite it taking over an hour for Thomas Tuchel’s side to break the deadlock. 

The Magpies started with the same side as they did in their 1-1 away draw to Crystal Palace as they came up against Premier League leaders Chelsea in what was Graeme Jones’ first home game as interim boss at Newcastle United. 

Chelsea made three changes from their 7-0 win against Norwich last weekend with Mason Mount not in the squad due to illness. Andreas Christensen, Hakim Ziyech and N’Golo Kante started the game with Romelu Lukaku and Timo Werner both out due to respective ankle and hamstring injuries. 

Newcastle looked to sit deep from the start and hit Chelsea on the counter but they offered little threat to the Chelsea defense throughout the game. Chelsea controlled possession for the duration of the game and ended with 79% possession.

However, they started off playing at a slow tempo before looking to hit the flanks, utilising the wing-backs to provide crosses into the box. 

The visitors struggled to create any chances of note inside the first 20 minutes, despite controlling possession. Newcastle were able to maintain their defensive structure well in the first half and looked difficult to break down. However, they offered very little going forward. 

It was one way traffic with Chelsea continuing to control the ball but they continued to struggle to create opportunities. Reece James created the best chances for Chelsea in the first half but both Kai Havertz and Hakim Ziyech squandered their chances in the box. 

The first half chance for Newcastle came to Callum Wilson, who flicked the ball on for Ciaran Clark down the left hand side. He provided a good cross into the box but Christensen did enough to stop Wilson from getting clean contact. 

Both sides failed to register an attempt on target in the first half in what was a fairly dull affair.  

Reece James is now Chelsea's top scorer in the Premier League this season!

Not bad for a full-back ? pic.twitter.com/GdDFTonf1l

— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) October 30, 2021

After the break, Ziyech’s effort nearly caught out Newcastle ‘keeper Karl Darlow but his deflected shot stuck the post. Chelsea continued in their patient manner, probing in and around the Newcastle box, still struggling to break Newcastle down as they were forced into taking efforts from range which did not really trouble Darlow.  

However, the Blues opened the scoring after the 65th minute, following a superb finish by James inside the area with his left foot into the top left corner. Callum Hudson-Odoi worked the ball excellently down the left in the build up to the goal. Matt Ritchie was able to get his head on the cross but the ball fell to James who converted fantastically to score his second in as many games. 

The Blues doubled their lead, with Reece James securing his brace, after he lashed the ball home with a good strike. Chelsea broke well in the build up with Havertz as the ball fell to Barkley, who proceeded to pass the ball onto Loftus-Cheek. He was able to get a shot away, as Darlow dived to save the effort, but it was blocked before falling to James. With Darlow still on the floor, he was unable to get back up in time as James struck the ball home. 

Chelsea scored a third goal from the spot when Barkley was taken down inside the area by Darlow for a clear penalty. Jorginho comfortably converted down the middle past Darlow. 

It was an easy game for Chelsea here as Newcastle failed to pose any threat to the Blues’ defense. 

Newcastle were resilient in the first half but when they were under such pressure from Chelsea’s ball retention, it was only a matter of time before they were going to be able to break through. 

Chelsea remain top of the Premier League table. 

MATCH SCORECARD

October 30, 2021 – Premier League 2021-22 Round 10
NEWCASTLE UNITED – CHELSEA 0-3

SCORERS: 65′ James, 77′ James, 81′ Jorginho pen.