Palmer and Jackson on target as Chelsea beat Newcastle
Having silenced the pre-season critics who expected them to struggle, the Blues came into this afternoon’s contest unbeaten in six games at Stamford Bridge.
And the home side started positively, led by captain Reece James, who was making his first start in front of the home crowd this season.
The fast start saw Cole Palmer net inside four minutes but the goal was ruled out for a narrow offside call.
The Blues continued their dominant start and were celebrating just after the quarter-hour mark when Palmer superbly released Pedro Neto through the left flank, and the Portuguese squared the ball across the box for a simple side-foot finish from Nicolas Jackson.
Newcastle responded well after falling behind and began to threaten midway through the half as Sandro Tonali saw a shot blocked before Alexander Isak drew the Toon level on 32 minutes.
Lewis Hall was released down the left and the former-Chelsea man whipped a ball into the box for the Swedish striker to tap into an empty net - marking the 5000th goal that the Blues had conceded in top-flight football in their history.
Chelsea came flying out for the second half and restored their lead within two minutes through their star man Palmer, who drove through the heart of the Newcastle defence and drove a powerful low effort past Nick Pope at his near post.
The visitors struggled after falling behind so early on after the restart, and Eddie Howe’s men took a while to get going.
Isak almost fortuitously doubled his tally for the afternoon after his cross almost crept in but Wesley Fofana was on hand to head off the line.
The Chelsea midfield duo of Moisés Caicedo and Roméo Lavia were putting on a dominant display in the middle of the park, breaking up play brilliantly for the hosts.
Howe made a triple change with 20 minutes to go but Isak was proving to be the sole threat for Newcastle as the forward rounded Robert Sánchez but failed with the final ball.
Despite Chelsea dealing with their opponents’ threat relatively well, the hosts also never looked likely to netting a third to ease any pressure of a comeback, and in the end, stuttered to the final whistle.
The win puts Maresca’s men up into fourth place ahead of Arsenal’s match against Liverpool, while Newcastle are now winless in five PL games (D2, L3), sitting in 12th place.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Cole Palmer (Chelsea)
