Newcastle United 0-2 Chelsea: Frank Lampard’s Blues go top of the Premier League
Newcastle #Newcastle
Federico Fernandez has scored five Premier League own goals
Chelsea moved to the top of the Premier League table, if only for a few hours, after a solid win at Newcastle United, their fifth straight victory in all competitions.
Federico Fernandez’s own goal set the Blues on their way, the Argentine defender poking the ball over his own line while under pressure from Ben Chilwell.
Chelsea oozed quality, Newcastle keeper Karl Darlow producing excellent saves to deny the excellent Timo Werner as well as a close-range header by Tammy Abraham.
But Abraham made sure of the points with a smart finish following Werner’s pass after Newcastle had threatened through Isaac Hayden and Joelinton. Sean Longstaff hit the bar for the home side towards the end.
Chelsea, who started the day fifth, are top the table on goal difference ahead of Leicester, who are at Liverpool on Sunday.
Aston Villa, who host Brighton at 15:00 GMT, could replace Chelsea at the summit with a big win, while Tottenham, who entertain Manchester City at 17:30, will move to the summit with a victory.
Six clean sheets in seven for Blues
Not only do Chelsea lead their group in the Champions League, they are now top of the Premier League for the first time since Frank Lampard took charge in July 2019.
This was the first of nine games in the next four weeks for Lampard’s side and the Chelsea boss had to plan for it without several key players who were still away on international duty 48 hours before this match.
It had prompted Lampard to call for Saturday early kick-offs to be scrapped immediately after an international break but the Blues made a ferocious start that caught Newcastle cold.
Werner and Abraham had already been thwarted by Darlow when Chelsea swept into an early lead, Fernandez inadvertently turning Mason Mount’s cross past his own keeper after a short corner.
That was Chelsea’s 35th goal in 14 league and cup games but it should have been more before half-time.
Werner, who had a goal disallowed for offside late on, was a creative force throughout but the Germany forward was also wasteful.
When Newcastle did mount a rare attack, Chelsea were solid at the back.
Antonio Rudiger, starting in place of 36-year-old Thiago Silva who had played for Brazil in midweek, marked his first league start of the season with an important block to deny Allan Saint-Maximin as the Blues chalked up a sixth clean sheet in seven games.
Abraham’s second goal in as many league games made sure of the points before Mount went close to adding a third.
Wilson a big miss
Without leading scorer Callum Wilson, Newcastle failed to score for the second successive game.
Wilson, missing with a hamstring injury, has netted six of his side’s 10 top-flight goals this season but Newcastle never recovered after a slow start.
Darlow kept his side in the match with some excellent saves before Abraham’s second-half finish killed the game off.
Newcastle’s cause was not helped by the loss of Jamaal Lascelles to injury, the captain failing to appear at the start of the second half after going down heavily.
Steve Bruce sent on Miguel Almiron, who only arrived back from international duty with Paraguay on Friday, and Andy Carroll to try and rescue a point.
Carroll looked set to score his first goal since returning to Newcastle for a second spell 15 months ago, but his attempt in injury time was deflected wide for a corner.
Home discomforts for Magpies – the stats
What’s next?
While Newcastle visit Crystal Palace in the Premier League next Friday (20:00 GMT), Chelsea are in France on Tuesday to face Rennes in Group E of the Champions League (17:55). They then host Spurs on Sunday, 29 November (16:30).
More to follow.
Player of the match
KantéN’Golo Kanté
Newcastle United
Squad number26Player nameDarlow
Squad number24Player nameAlmirón
Squad number10Player nameSaint-Maximin
Squad number36Player nameS Longstaff
Squad number15Player nameLewis
Squad number6Player nameLascelles
Squad number19Player nameManquillo
Squad number14Player nameHayden
Squad number23Player nameMurphy
Squad number2Player nameClark
Squad number7Player nameCarroll
Squad number5Player nameSchär
Squad number9Player nameJoelinton
Squad number18Player nameFernández
Chelsea
Squad number7Player nameKanté
Squad number11Player nameWerner
Squad number22Player nameZiyech
Squad number9Player nameAbraham
Squad number15Player nameZouma
Squad number24Player nameJames
Squad number16Player nameMendy
Squad number21Player nameChilwell
Squad number19Player nameMount
Squad number17Player nameKovacic
Squad number2Player nameRüdiger
Squad number20Player nameHudson-Odoi
Squad number18Player nameGiroud
Squad number33Player nameEmerson
Line-ups Newcastle
Substitutes
Chelsea
Substitutes
Live Text
Match ends, Newcastle United 0, Chelsea 2.
90’+4′
Second Half ends, Newcastle United 0, Chelsea 2.
90’+3′
Attempt blocked. Mateo Kovacic (Chelsea) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Mason Mount.
90’+3′
Attempt blocked. Jacob Murphy (Newcastle United) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
90’+2′
Corner, Newcastle United. Conceded by Antonio Rüdiger.
90’+2′
Attempt blocked. Andy Carroll (Newcastle United) left footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Isaac Hayden.
90’+1′
Tammy Abraham (Chelsea) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
90’+1′
Foul by Jamal Lewis (Newcastle United).
90′
Foul by Emerson (Chelsea).
90′
Miguel Almirón (Newcastle United) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
89′
Offside, Chelsea. Reece James tries a through ball, but Olivier Giroud is caught offside.
88′
Foul by Reece James (Chelsea).
88′
Sean Longstaff (Newcastle United) wins a free kick on the left wing.
87′
Substitution, Chelsea. Olivier Giroud replaces Hakim Ziyech.
86′
Corner, Newcastle United. Conceded by Kurt Zouma.
83′
Corner, Chelsea. Conceded by Fabian Schär.
82′
Substitution, Chelsea. Emerson replaces Ben Chilwell.
81′
Attempt blocked. Callum Hudson-Odoi (Chelsea) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Tammy Abraham.
79′
Corner, Newcastle United. Conceded by Édouard Mendy.
79′
Attempt saved. Miguel Almirón (Newcastle United) left footed shot from the left side of the box is saved in the top left corner. Assisted by Joelinton.
