First winners: Lampard and his Chelsea title contenders

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It was the complete domination of Frank Lampard’s men in St James’ Park as Chelsea swept Newcastle United 2-0. It was a match the Blues were expected to win, but the score could and should have been much higher.

Despite all the dangerous situations they created against the Magpies, Chelsea opened the scoring on Saturday under fortunate circumstances. Federico Fernandez, who had trouble getting his feet in order, turned the ball into his own net from a beautiful ball just across the Mason Mount area. Timo Werner had a couple of excellent opportunities to make the score more comfortable before the break, but neither he nor Tammy Abraham, who had a header saved by Karl Darlow, could add to their account in the opening 45 minutes. The Blues had become so comfortable with the ball towards the end of the first half that complacency almost got the better of them. Some sloppy passing infiltrated their game, allowing Newcastle to break them a couple of times, but the end product was not from Allan Saint-Maximin.

No team has scored more goals in the second half than Chelsea in the Premier League this season and they increased that record against the Geordies. Another pair of missed opportunities later, Werner showed his class by charging through a gigantic hole in Newcastle’s rear to lay it on a plate for Abraham, who pocketed the post. That goal sealed a football afternoon as comfortable as Chelsea’s all season, and Steve Bruce’s team rarely threatens Edouard Mendy’s goal.

The three points brought Chelsea to the top of the Premier League temporarily and announced them as title contenders. Y so they should be. More than £ 200 million was spent on seven players in the summer, including Hakim Ziyech, Werner, Ben Chilwell and Kai Havertz. The main question mark hanging over Chelsea was whether all the new players could settle in quickly and whether Lampard could find his best XI in a sea of ​​treasures. It took a few matches, but Lampard seems to be there.

The Blues have conceded nine goals in their first five Premier League games this period, scoring eight points out of a possible 15. Since then, they have conceded just one goal, scoring nine and adding ten of a possible 12 points. The gradual introduction of Chilwell, Thiago Silva and especially Mendy has seen Lampard’s defense improve dramatically, while Kurt Zouma and Reece James have improved their levels recently. Chelsea had the worst defense in the upper half of last season, but is now laying the groundwork for a title challenge.

Added to that, only Liverpool and Manchester United have prevented Chelsea from scoring this season with the West London team hitting the back of the net 22 times – the most in the Premier League of any club this campaign. It is encouraging that the goals also come from all over the field, with defenders, midfielders, wingers and forwards contributing. Chilwell and James represent a constant threat in the winger positions, with players like Mateo Kovacic and Mount able to advance thanks to N’Golo Kante now plays his favorite deep role.

One part of the team that could be rotated a lot is the forward positions, with Lampard able to draw on a great deal of talent. Due to the summer arrivals, Abraham would have been forgiven for thinking that he would spend most of the season warming up the bench. However, his performance at St James Park, along with his bonding game with Werner, will have Lampard reflecting, as the likes of Christian Pulisic and Kai Havertz are welcomed back in the coming weeks.

Callum Hudson-Odoi, who entered the second half against Newcastle, insisted earlier in the week that Chelsea can win the Premier League title. He said: “We have started very well and we want to maintain that. What we are doing well is that defensively we keep a clean sheet and up front we are scoring a lot of goals, which is good. We don’t just depend on our attackers; We depend on all the team members and we are scoring goals everywhere on the field. We want to keep building, keep scoring goals, keep getting assists and keep working hard as a team and hopefully, you never know, we can win the title too. “

Lampard quickly moved to pour cold water on those expectations, responding to Hudson-Odoi’s comments: “I get it. I like the confidence, I like that the players feel that way. For me, it is my job to muffle what he said there and say that we know there is a long way to go, we are in eight games. We are in a decent position, we are playing well recently, but there are so many things we have to work on and improve on before we can start engaging in that conversation. That is up to us. “

However, it cannot be denied that Chelsea are in a race for the title. Injuries to key Liverpool players, Manchester City’s uneven start and Blues spending summer have secured it. They may eventually fall short, but they have been given all the necessary tools to win their first title since 2017 and make Frank Lampard the first English manager to lift the Premier League trophy.

Joe williams



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