Werner breaks goal drought, but ‘new’ Mateo Kovacic singled out for special praise as Chelsea down Newcastle

By Conor Laird Published: February 15, 2021 9:55 pmLast Updated: February 15, 2021 10:21 pm

Chelsea made short work of Newcastle on Monday evening, with one of the Blues’ stars having since been widely singled out for praise.

Giroud & Werner on target

Thomas Tuchel’s men welcomed the Magpies to Stamford Bridge a short time ago, for their latest Premier League outing.

The hosts of course headed into proceedings having enjoyed a fine start to life under their new boss, on the back of 4 wins and a draw from 5 outings.

In turn, ahead of kick-off, Chelsea were no doubt aware that a victory would guide them back into the top-4 in the English top-flight, above floundering champions Liverpool.

And, when all was said and done in west London, this is precisely what the Pensioners managed.

Olivier Giroud opened the game’s scoring just past the half-hour mark, lashing home from close range following a fine burst down the Newcastle left on the part of Timo Werner:

Werner himself was then next on the scoresheet, finishing at the back post after escaping the clutches of Newcastle’s backline 5 minutes from the interval:

And this, when the 90 minutes were said and done, was all she wrote when it came to goals, as Chelsea continued their ascent up the Premier League table on the back of Frank Lampard’s departure late last month.

Kovacic shining

In turn, on the back of proceedings coming to a close at Stamford Bridge, a number of members of Thomas Tuchel’s squad have since been singled out for praise.

Timo Werner was the obvious choice, after the German’s persistence finally paid off en route to bringing an end to a remarkable drought in front of goal:

Elsewhere, meanwhile, Giroud found the net just 10 minutes after stepping onto the pitch in place of the injured Tammy Abraham, whilst the restored Kepa Arrizabalaga looked solid throughout.

None, though, proved more impressive over the course of the 90 minutes this evening than Mateo Kovacic.

The Croat appears to have been handed a new lease of life by the arrival of Tuchel, with his display versus Newcastle nothing short of spectacular.

Kovacic does not always receive the praise he deserves due to a lack of production in the attacking third, but, on Monday, Chelsea’s fans, and more, have taken to social media in their numbers, to make their feelings regarding the former Real Madrid man very much known:

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Premier League table

# Team MP D P 1 Manchester City FC 23 32 53 2 Manchester United FC 24 19 46 3 Leicester City FC 24 16 46 4 Liverpool FC 24 13 40 5 Chelsea FC 23 14 39 6 West Ham United FC 23 6 39 7 Everton FC 22 4 37 8 Aston Villa FC 22 12 36 9 Tottenham Hotspur FC 23 11 36 10 Arsenal FC 24 6 34 11 Leeds United 23 -2 32 12 Wolverhampton Wanderers FC 24 -7 30 13 Southampton FC 23 -9 29 14 Crystal Palace FC 24 -15 29 15 Brighton & Hove Albion FC 24 -5 26 16 Burnley FC 23 -12 26 17 Newcastle United FC 23 -13 25 18 Fulham FC 23 -12 18 19 West Bromwich Albion 24 -36 13 20 Sheffield United FC 23 -22 11 Player Team Goals Salah, Mohamed Liverpool FC 17 Fernandes, Bruno Manchester United FC 14 Kane, Harry Tottenham Hotspur FC 13 Son, Heung Min Tottenham Hotspur FC 13 Calvert-Lewin, Dominic Everton FC 13 Vardy, Jamie Leicester City FC 12 Bamford, Patrick Leeds United 12 Gundogan, Ilkay Manchester City FC 11 Wilson, Callum Newcastle United FC 10 Watkins, Ollie Aston Villa FC 10 Zaha, Wilfried Crystal Palace FC 9 Rashford, Marcus Manchester United FC 8 Sterling, Raheem Manchester City FC 8 Ings, Danny Southampton FC 8 Barnes, Harvey Leicester City FC 8 Lacazette, Alexandre Arsenal FC 8 Aubameyang, Pierre-Emerick Arsenal FC 8 Soucek, Tomas West Ham United FC 8 Maddison, James Leicester City FC 7 Mane, Sadio Liverpool FC 7 Player Team Red Cards Yellow Cards Gallagher, Conor West Bromwich Albion 0 8 Bellerin, Hector Arsenal FC 0 7 Lundstram, John Sheffield United FC 1 6 Evans, Jonny Leicester City FC 0 7 Egan, John Sheffield United FC 1 6 Bissouma, Yves Brighton & Hove Albion FC 1 6 Milivojevic, Luka Crystal Palace FC 1 6 Grealish, Jack Aston Villa FC 0 6 Romeu, Oriol Southampton FC 0 6 Maguire, Harry Manchester United FC 0 6 Kante, N`Golo Chelsea FC 0 6 Hayden, Isaac Newcastle United FC 0 6 Ward-Prowse, James Southampton FC 0 5 Dallas, Stuart Leeds United 0 5 Klich, Mateusz Leeds United 0 5 Doucoure, Abdoulaye Everton FC 0 5 Reid, Bobby Fulham FC 0 5 Shaw, Luke Manchester United FC 0 5 McGinn, John Aston Villa FC 0 5 Neves, Ruben Wolverhampton Wanderers FC 0 5 Player Team Assists Kane, Harry Tottenham Hotspur FC 11 Grealish, Jack Aston Villa FC 10 Fernandes, Bruno Manchester United FC 9 De Bruyne, Kevin Manchester City FC 9 Son, Heung Min Tottenham Hotspur FC 6 Rashford, Marcus Manchester United FC 6 Cresswell, Aaron West Ham United FC 6 Digne, Lucas Everton FC 6 Sterling, Raheem Manchester City FC 5 Maddison, James Leicester City FC 5 Firmino, Roberto Liverpool FC 5 Ward-Prowse, James Southampton FC 5 Werner, Timo Chelsea FC 5 Raphinha Leeds United 5 Robertson, Andrew Liverpool FC 5 Shaw, Luke Manchester United FC 5 Vardy, Jamie Leicester City FC 4 Bamford, Patrick Leeds United 4 Wilson, Callum Newcastle United FC 4 Harrison, Jack Leeds United 4