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There was a period here when Chelsea were in danger of being dragged into a coma by Newcastle, whose best tactic lately is to bore an opponent into complacency.
The Blues had taken an early lead and were so dominant that nearby Town Moor cattle could have roamed their vacant half and not interfered with play. In fact, Chelsea goalkeeper Edouard Mendy was left alone for the entire first half hour.
But going into the last 25 minutes they had let the game drift. It helps, then, when you have a player like Timo Werner to pull you out of a dream.
The way you did the following had an element of “enough is enough”. He knew it would be a sham if his side came out with less than three points. And so he embarked on one of the best solo assists we’ll see this season.
The German picked up the ball in his own field, about 70 meters from the goal, throwing himself between two black and white shirts, jumping for a third and throwing the perfect pass to Tammy Abraham, who applied the perfect shot to complement the flourish of the creator . Game over.
“You need players of that quality to win games,” said Frank Lampard, whose team was momentarily at the top of the Premier League.
“The rhythm of the ball is something special. He was so selfless and you trust those players who are first class. ”
Beating Newcastle in this state may not be the best barometer of their title credentials. But another clean sheet, fourth on the road on the road, coupled with the opportunities created and Werner’s brilliance was evidence enough that a team is headed in the right direction.
Chelsea had started the first half brilliantly, but ended it a bit like Newcastle. That happens when he’s exposed to Steve Bruce’s side, a contagious leveling that takes away energy and ideas as the game progresses.
That’s no joke, it really works. Just ask players like Spurs and Wolves, top teams who opened full of life before falling asleep, awakened only by the sound of the full-time whistle, two points from the three they had taken for granted.
And Chelsea were very good for the first 30 minutes. They had 82 percent good possession and had a chance to decorate their domain.
Werner was looking for a fifth game in a row with a goal, not since Didier Drogba in 2009, a Chelsea player did, and he almost did it in four minutes only for Karl Darlow to brush the post with his low steer.
Darlow certainly has a chance to shine on this side, no goalkeeper has made more saves in the division this season, and he made another superb save by turning Abraham’s close-range header over the bar.
But he was brutally exposed for Chelsea’s opener at 10 minutes. It was easy, very easy. Mason Mount hit a one-two down the right and went unopposed into the penalty area before crossing to the far post, where defender Federico Fernandez got into his own net under pressure from Ben Chilwell.
Was there a push? VAR checked it. But Fernandez’s indiscretion came before Chilwell’s contact.
Werner then somehow deviated when he came into goal after an even more generous home defense in the half hour.
But Chelsea, who were already getting bored with the ball, were beginning to numb. Newcastle should have entered the counter attack level when Allan Saint-Maximin escaped into the box only to have his shot blocked by Antonio Rudiger, the defender desperately diving into the goal’s mouth.
The second half continued in the same way with Newcastle, to be fair, growing in confidence. At least that was, until Werner’s intervention.
Chelsea are now undefeated in 12 in all competitions, with Lampard saying: ‘It’s good to be in the position we are in and to have gained confidence from clean sheets, which was a problem for us earlier this season and part of the last.
But it is important to be humble, we know it is a long race. We need to keep working and be constant. The international break was challenging, but we came here against a team we lost to last year. We dominated possession and scored our goals, and we could have scored more. “
With players like Werner, Chelsea will surely score a lot more.
Scroll down to relive how the St James’ Park action unfolded with Sportsmail’s Ieuan Ivett.
Source: m.allfootballapp.com
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