Chelsea moved briefly to the top of the Premier League following a 2-0 victory over Newcastle United at St. James Park on Saturday (November 22).
The Blues were quickly out of the blocks and duly took the lead in the 10th minute when Federico Fernandez put one through his own net. Tammy Abraham netted in the 65th minute to make the points safe as the Blues romped to the top of the standings.
Chelsea had several opportunities to add the second long before Abraham scored midway in the second half but profligacy and poor decision kept the hosts in the game. Newcastle were however guilty of the bigger misses in the game, especially in the second half.
Isaac Hayden struck over from point blank range and with just the Chelsea goalkeeper, Edouard Mendy at his mercy but it wouldn’t have counted as the ball had fortuitously bounced off his hand before he pulled the trigger.
Brazilian forward, Joelinton missed another sitter as he curled with Mendy beaten as his long wait for a goal continued.
Sean Longstaff also beat the Chelsea goalkeeper, Edouard Mendy from range with a sweetly struck effort which came off the crossbar as the hosts tried to hurl themselves back into the contest.
In the 75th minute, German striker Timo Werner thought he had scored Chelsea’s third goal but saw his effort, after he rounded the goalkeeper and slotted into an unguarded net, ruled out for offside.Three minutes later, Mason Mount outsmarted his marker but shot just wide across the face of goal with just the Newcastle United goalkeeper, Karl Darlow.
The win was enough to take Chelsea to the summit of the standings as they have now amassed 18 points from nine matches.
Newcastle United are 13th with 11 points from nine games. However, their time at the top of the league was short-lived after Tottenham beat Manchester City on Saturday, putting Jose Mourinho’s side two points clear of Chelsea.
