Newcastle United fell behind against Chelsea in the early stages of the match at Stamford Bridge on Sunday, and journalist Luke Edwards pointed out the most concerning thing about Nicolas Jackson’s opening goal.
The Magpies had won just three of their first eight games heading into Sunday’s meeting in London. They had also drawn three and lost two across the opening months of the 2024/25 campaign
‘Three players’ could have stopped Chelsea’s goal
Palmer provided the assist for Jackson on 18 minutes
After initially having a goal ruled out for offside in the opening 10 minutes, Chelsea scored their first courtesy of Jackson. Cole Palmer picked out Pedro Neto with an outstanding pass, and the winger was able to set up his teammate for the opener.
Speaking on social media platform X, journalist Edwards pointed out the most concerning thing about the breakdown in Newcastle’s shape in the build up to the goal. He noted that the attack could have been stopped by at least three players, but all failed to do so:
“This has the makings of a very long afternoon. Chelsea have found it way too easy to get the ball in behind the Newcastle defence. The Jackson goal came when a Newcastle attack broke down. There were three players who could have stopped Palmer deep inside his own half. None of them got anywhere near him.”Fortunately for Newcastle, Chelsea’s lead at Stamford Bridge was short-lived. Just after the half hour mark, Alexander Isak stepped up with an equaliser following an assist from former Chelsea man Lewis Hall.Palmer scored Chelsea’s second early in the second half after Isak gave the ball away. The Chelsea man charged forward 20 yards before slotting it past Nick Pope and into the back of the net, giving the visitors it all to do in the final 40 minutes of the game.
Newcastle will face Chelsea again in just a few days time at St James’ Park. The two teams will meet for the second time in a week on Wednesday evening in the round of 16 of the Carabao Cup.
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