MATCH REPORT: CHELSEA 3 NEWCASTLE UNITED 0. Posted on: Sat 08 Feb 2014 SUMMARY Eden Hazards 1st Chelsea hat-trick took the Blues back to the top of the league table. The flying Belgian netted twice in open play in the 1st half,with the 2nd of those strikes an especially fine move,&he completed the scoring from the penalty spot in the 2nd half as the momentum built up by beating Man City was maintained by another invigorating team performance. Newcastle were limited to a couple of chances each half while Jose Mourinhos side were a threat throughout. With Arsenal heavily beaten at Anfield&Man City drawing at Norwich&again failing to find the net,we lead the pack by a point with 25 of the 38 games played. TEAM NEWS John Terry missed his 1st Premier League minutes of the season as a precaution due to a minor muscle problem so David Luiz dropped back into defence. Frank Lampard returned to midfield alongside Nemanja Matic&took the captains armband,&Oscar was restored in the #10 role with Ramires dropping to the bench. Willian&Eden Hazard were the flank attackers with Samuel Etoo again the spearhead. Newcastle selected new loan signing Luuk de Jong as their CF with Shola Ameobi dropped. Davide Santon moved forward from LB to fill the midfield hole made by injury to Chieck Tiote,with Paul Dummett coming into the Magpies defence. FIRST HALF Newcastle arrived in London off the back of a horror show against local rivals Sunderland in their last game,but also with the knowledge they had produced 1 of the best displays vs Chelsea this season when these sides met back in November. That day Jose Mourinho lamented a lack of urgency by his players when enjoying plenty of possession in the 1st half. There was to be no repeat of that failing in this return match at the Bridge. Very soon after the start the man in red-hot form,Eden Hazard,was given the chance to move outside of CB Mike Williamson&shoot by Azpilicuetas pass,but Tim Krul saved on the floor. Lampard drilled a low free-kick a few yards wide as the early pressure was maintained. Etoo,in possession out wide,then found Lampard who doesnt need a 2nd invitation to shoot,but Newcastle had plenty of men back to block. Hatem Ben Arfa produced Newcastles best moment of the opening spell when he wriggled away from Oscar but his shot was fielded by Cech before on 10mins,Lampard did manage to fire an effort through the defence but again Krul saved comfortably. Just past the quarter-of-an-hour mark Chelsea began picking away at the Newcastle lock with some eye-catching passing&moving inside the penalty area,but werent quite accurate enough with the final passes. Small margins were holding us back. When Mourinhos men broke up a Newcastle attack on halfway,they counter-attacked in a flash through Willian&Hazard but Krul reached a low centre just ahead of the pouncing Etoo. The Blues were looking good though,&Matic forced the ball on towards the visitors area before Oscars low,well-struckeffort went wide. It was the closest attempt yet. The opening goal was very much on the cards&it was the craft&accuracy of Hazard that led to the breakthrough. Having passed out wide to Ivanovic,the Belgian continued his run&when a return pass came into the middle,Hazard swept it 1st-time beyond the reach of Krul&into the far side of the net. It had taken 27mins to take the lead but we were called upon to defend it 5mins later when Sanmy Ameobi escaped in behind having been played onside by David Luiz. A combination of a poor touch by the winger&Cech swiftly racing to meet the danger denied the Geordies an equaliser. A 2nd goal for the Blues before half-time was highly desirable&it came just a minute after that scare. It was also brilliant. David Luiz set the move on its way&his compatriot Willian carried the ball on. Hazard took over out on the left&charged goalwards before executing a sublime 1-2 with Etoo,the Camroonian back-heeling into Hazards path for a close-range finish. Krul was left helpess&the defence would have been chasing shadows had they existed on this gloomy,windy day. Hazard could have had a 1st-half hat-trick but momentarily lacked composure&shot over as Chelsea broke again past Newcastles pressing midfielders. Alan Pardews team were chasing the game&that meant gaps to exploit. SECOND HALF Attacking the Matthew Harding End this half,Ivanovic,who was playing his 250th Chelsea game,was tripped not far from the Newcastle area by Ameobi who became the 1st player booked by Howard Webb. Lampards free-kick came to nothing but Chelsea almost added a 3rd goal just 6mins after the restart thanks to a moment of slapstick from the Newcastle GK. David Luiz had lofted a ball forward&as it bounced,Krul,who had raced to meet it,realised he had come too far&was outside his area. As he slammed on the brakes he slipped&the ball cleared him. Unfortunately it also rolled wide of the goal just too far ahead of the chasing Oscar. Krul needed treatment on his ankle soon after but played on&was able to pouch the ball as an Etoo shot was half-blocked by Williamson. Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa,whohad come on at RB for injured Mathieu Debuchy shortly before half-time,was booked for a crude tackle on Hazard&this time Lampard from out wide extended Krul with the free-kick. A corner followed,miss-struck by Lampard but Newcastle hadnt escaped. Yanga-Mbiwa was again the villain,pullingdown Etoo at the far post as the ball was delivered&a penalty was awarded. Lampard magnanimously passed up the chance of his 50th Chelsea penalty goal to allow Hazard the chance of a hat-trick. The invitation was taken as Krul was wrong-footed by the 23yrs-old for his 14th goal of the season. There were 27mins left on the clock to add to the 3-0 lead. Newcastle went close with a good move but Ameobi shot wide. On 77mins came a Chelsea debut,Mohamed Salah brought on for Willian who had again played his part. Salah had 1 half-chance to score after 2 other subs - Ba&Schurrle - sprung a counter-attack but the Egyptian screwed his shot wide,&then he had a very good opportunity made by Oscar but shot too close to Krul. He was also lunged at by Sissoko who was punished with a yellow card. Newcastle missed a sitter that fell to substitute Sylvain Marveaux before the end but further Chelsea goals would have come but for wayward shooting by Schurrle&Ba. As the whistle blew Chelsea were able to celebrate 3goals,3points&a 7th clean sheet in the last 8games. Before the game Petr Cech was presented by the club with a commemorative trophy to mark his new clean sheet record set last month. It was handed over by the man he surpassed,PeterBonetti. Next up for Chelseas stars of today is an away league trip to West Brom on Tuesday night. Chelsea (4-2-3-1):Cech;Ivanovic, Cahill, D Luiz, Azpilicueta; Lampard (c), Matic; Willian (Salah 77), Oscar, Hazard (Schurrle 84); Etoo (Ba 70). Unused subs Schwarzer, Cole, Mikel, Ramires,. Scorer Hazard 27, 32, 63 pen. Newcastle (4-2-3-1):Krul;Debuchy (Yanga-Mbiwa 40), Williamson, S Taylor, Dummett; Anita (Marveaux 84), Santon; Ben Arfa (Gosling 63), Sissoko, Sammy Ameobi; De Jong. Unused subs Elliot, Haidara, Shola Ameobi, Armstrong. Booked Ameobi 48, Yanga-Mbiwa 60, Sissoko 88. Referee Howard Webb Crowd 41,387
Posted on: Sat, 08 Feb 2014 19:00:47 +0000
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