Chelsea pipped Newcastle United 2-1 to maintain their 100% record in the league and stay should-to-shoulder with the likes of Liverpool and Watford in the league ladder. There weren’t too many openings in the game, but the final 10 minutes produced some action.
As envisioned by most of the pundits and observers, Chelsea dominated in almost every aspect of the game. Their first-half was summed up with over 425 passes and 78% possession. In contrast, the Magpies only laboured 120 passes together.
Apart from a wide header from Rondon and a sweetly-timed volley from Azpilicueta that ricochet off Morata, there was no major opening in the game for either side.
The second-half got more frustrating for the Blues, who saw almost 90% of the ball. A slice of fortune then helped Newcastle as the frame of the goal denied a venomous long-range effort from Rudiger.
Marcos Alonso then won a penalty that was accurately dispatched by Eden Hazard, who finally rewarded his team’s utter dominance with a goal.
The game sprung into life as Joselu provided an unlikely equalizer, which was controversial. DeAndre Yedlin then passed the ball back into his own net to give the visitors the lead. This fortuitous goal was enough for Maurizio Sarri to go back to West London with all three points. Let’s have a look at two players who were the worst in the match.
1. David Luiz
David Luiz and Antonio Rudiger were rather untested at the back for most part of the game. However, the difference between their performances was that the latter stood up to the task and replied authoritatively whenever called upon, while Luiz didn’t do the same.
Luiz was the worst player of this fixture only because Joselu’s goal was completely his fault. When Giroud was not given a free-kick for an apparent raise of elbow by Yedlin, the defender stood static instead of playing for the referee’s whistle.
The cross was then whipped in and Luiz was favourite to get there as it was straight to his path. But unfortunately for him and Chelsea, Joselu, who was a good six yards behind the Brazilian, ended up winning the header and burying it into Kepa’s goal.
Luiz completely switched off, which is quite unprofessional.
2. Sung-yueng Ki
Ki, just like any other teammate, put in the defensive shift for almost all 90 minutes. He was a part of the four-man midfield that stood right in front of the five-man defence. The South Korean captain worked hard, blocked shots, covered gaps and closed down players, but struggled to add sharpness to his game.
He managed to cover spaces, but didn’t win the ball back enough. Also, his challenges were feeble, to say the least. He couldn’t quite put a foothold in the match. Neither did he support the attack, nor did he feed Rondon enough.
Newcastle enjoyed less than 20% of possession, but despite their competitive, fighting display, many would argue that they should have taken the attack to the opposition a bit more. Ki was one of the main reasons for their failure.