Chelsea’s up-and-down Premier League form was on show again as they went down narrowly 1-0 to Newcastle United at Stamford Bridge, leaving the Blues with just one victory from their last five league fixtures.
The home team got off to a great start and were the first to come up with a chance when Alejandro Garnacho whipped in a dangerous ball for João Pedro, but a quick reaction by the former Chelsea academy graduate Lewis Hall saw him clear the danger. Chelsea kept the pressure up and from a corner, it was Wesley Fofana who sent a header just over the bar, while both Garnacho and Cole Palmer squandered good opportunities in the first quarter of an hour.
Newcastle, however, scored the goal against the pattern of the game. Joe Willock took advantage of a confused defensive line of Chelsea and, before turning and passing the ball to Anthony Gordon, who, with composure, put the ball into the net to give the visitors the lead.
Chelsea tried hard to equalise after the break. The youngster Liam Delap, who came on as a substitute, almost had the perfect debut as he forced Aaron Ramsdale to make a very good save, while Palmer also had strong penalty appeals denied. Delap later made a near miss from a glancing header, while Reece James, in injury time, came so close when his free-kick hit the post.
The loss means that Chelsea have again failed to reduce the gap at the top of the table with Aston Villa and Manchester United, who are fighting for a top-five finish, whereas Newcastle have moved up a place to ninth and are only six points behind Chelsea.
