Chelsea were beaten 1-0 by Newcastle United in their final Premier League match before the World Cup break. Former Arsenal midfielder Joe Willock’s second half thunderbolt was the difference at St. James’ Park on Saturday evening.
The Blues were under pressure to impress as they travelled north this weekend after failing to win in their previous four league matches. However, it was Newcastle that went into the match as favourites as they sat fourth in the Premier League table.
Graham Potter’s side were at a disavantage only six minutes in when Ruben Loftus-Cheek was forced off with an injury and was replaced by Thiago Silva. The Blues really struggled to get going on Tyneside and only managed two shots on target in 90 minutes - with Potter choosing to leave Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang on the bench throughout.
Chelsea had looked like they were clawing their way back into the game on the hour mark before the Magpies snatched the only goal of the game. While Eddie Howe’s side defended well, the Blues struggled to provide much of a threat to their backline. After another disappointing result, here is how we rated the Chelsea players today.
1. Edouard Mendy - 6
The goalkeeper had a mostly comfortable afternoon with little to do and didn’t have much chance with Joe Willock’s goal.
2. Trevoh Chalobah - 5
Another average performance from the defender, though his evening could have been a lot worse when he almost gave away a penalty for handball before VAR intervened.
3. Thiago Silva - 6
A usual solid performance from the defender -who was surprisingly not named in the starting line-up.
4. Kalidou Koulibaly - 6
Made some vital interceptions early on to prevent Newcastle taking the lead, however was beaten by Miguel Almiron for their goal.