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Chelsea turned an inherently strong and controlled performance in the first half into a well-deserved 2-0 halftime lead, despite a fairly obvious penalty that was not invoked against Tammy Abraham. Sure, Lascelles won the ball, but it went through Abraham’s ankle – and in fact, the young striker had to be taken out minutes later.
The cosmic scales were balanced a bit when Abraham’s substitute Olivier Giroud opened the scoring soon after arriving, Timo “bloody lips” Werner creating the opportunity with a nice low cross. Werner himself then entered the scoresheet after nearly 1,000 Premier League minutes, and it was all smiles for the men in blue.
Newcastle came out with a lot of intention in the second half and caused a few moments of nervousness with their intense high pressure, but Chelsea eventually settled down and regained control. A couple of half chances for Hudson-Odoi begged, then Lascelles escaped with another penalty, this time after pushing Werner from behind.
But Chelsea kept control and saw the rest of the game without too much trouble. We won’t win any prizes for it, but we also avoided heart attacks.
Work completed. Top four once again.
Carefree.
- Four changes from last weekend, with both wings rotating, Abraham getting the sign ahead of Giroud and Kepa taking a surprise start
- Kepa’s first Premier League start since 3-3 against Southampton four months ago. Has not been tested much, if at all, which has been a constant feature of Tuchel’s defensive setups
- Olivier Giroud’s 100th replacement appearance in the Premier League. His 21st career goal as a PL substitute, good for the second all-time behind Jermain Defoe.
- Kanté for Mount meant a move to a 3-5-2 for the final 20 minutes, with Jorginho at the base of the Sarri-style midfielder triangle.
- James for Hudson-Odoi changes at the back of the wing late on the final change
- VAR, what’s the point?
- Chelsea are winning four straight league wins for the first time this season. Tuchel still undefeated, with 13 points out of 15 in the league, five clean sheets out of six in all competitions, and the only goal conceded a goal against his camp.
- Chelsea finished fourth, just four points behind second. Many others just behind.
- Next stop: Southampton away on Saturday
- KTBFFH
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