That’s your lot, folks. Jacob Steinberg was at the Bridge, and his report is here. You know the pack drill: click, click, click. Thanks for reading this MBM. Stay safe and warm, everyone. Nighty night!
A word with Steve Bruce. “We sat off them a little bit in the first half. Werner caused us problems in particular. We changed things in the second half and got better. We got after them right from the off, there was more intent, which is what we’re trying to implement. Set pieces was a problem in the first half in particular, usually it’s a big strength of ours, so it’s something we’ll look at. There are a few positives in the second half. We have tried to change in the last eight weeks, and we are going to come unstuck now and again, but I am far happier in the way we played in the second half. Everybody’s making a fist of it, there are six, seven, eight teams all looking over their shoulder, but if we keep showing the same resilience, like we’ve shown the last month or so, then we’ll be OK.”
Tuchel also confirmed that Edouard Mendy is still Chelsea’s first-choice goalkeeper. “I am very happy that Kepa continued with a second clean sheet in a row. It was the moment to let him build his confidence. It was clear before that Edouard will be in goal from now on, because he recovered physically and mentally, and right now he’s the number one.”
Thomas Tuchel, ever the perfectionist, speaks to Sky Sports. “I liked the first half. We played with courage and a lot of purpose in the box. We had a lot of shots and managed to keep them away from our box. I liked that a lot. Our decision-making in the box can be more deadly, more precise, more decisive. The second half, we gave away shots, lost duels, suddenly there were corners against us. We played too many balls back. We did not keep the advantage to put the game into the opponent’s half. Our counter attacks were also not clinical enough to score a third goal and finish the game.”
The post-match managerial interviews are still to come. But Jacob Steinberg’s verdict has landed, so here it is!
It’s Timo time! “The first half was really good from us. We played a lot of very good football. I’m happy that I scored finally! There’s still a long way to go for the rest of the season, but if we keep going like this, I think it will be a good end for us. As a striker you always want to score. But at the end it’s a team sport, and if we win it is good. If I help my team with assists, by winning penalties, and now scoring, I am happy and very glad I scored today. My team brought me a lot of situations when I could score. It is really important for us to reach the Champions League, to reach for the top four, but look for next year as well.”
FULL TIME: Chelsea 2-0 Newcastle United
The Thomas Tuchel honeymoon continues apace, with Chelsea leapfrogging West Ham United and Liverpool into fourth spot in the Premier League. Newcastle stay 17th, but will take some heart from their performance. They fought well; they were just beaten by a better side, that’s all.
Updated
90 min +2: Lewis is down having taken a whack to the knee. Nothing too serious by the looks of it, and he’s soon up and about again.
90 min +1: Timo Werner has been named man of the match by Andy Hinchcliffe on Sky co-comms. Seems about right. He’s been excellent tonight. A goal and an assist. Ultimately the difference.
90 min: There will be three added minutes.
89 min: A free kick for Chelsea out on the left. Alonso to take. Lascelles clears.
88 min: From the resulting throw, out on the right, Newcastle work the ball down the flank to win another corner. Carroll goes down in a grapple with Giroud, but it’s 50-50 and Chelsea get the decision. Carroll is not happy.
87 min: Shelvey dinks a free kick down the left for Almiron, who wins a corner off Kante. Carroll attacks the corner, but can’t get anything on it. Kepa eventually punches clear, albeit not in the most convincing style. But fair’s fair, he got it clear of immediate danger.
Updated
85 min: Fraser drives down the right but all the avenues close. With time running out, Newcastle look doomed. You have been watching ...
Updated
83 min: Carroll and Joelinton combine crisply down the inside-left channel, a couple of flicks finding Almiron, just inside the Chelsea box on the left. Almiron meets the dropping ball first time, but it’s always heading high and wide. That was a tricky chance, the ball coming over his shoulder, and would have been one hell of a goal.
82 min: Lascelles works over yet another Chelsea player, this time winding Giroud as the pair contest aerially.
81 min: Carroll’s first act is to shove Azpilicueta in the back as he competes for a high ball in the Chelsea box. Free kick.
80 min: Andy Carroll, who scored against Chelsea in the 2012 FA Cup final for Liverpool, and should really have had two, replaces Willock.
79 min: James is immediately in the thick of it, driving towards the bottom right. Darlow does well to kick clear, especially as the shot took a nick off Lewis en route.
78 min: Nothing comes of the corner. And having just given Hudson-Odoi the big talk, he’s immediately replaced by James. Pulitzer, please!
76 min: Hudson-Odoi charges in from the right flank, forcing a corner. He’s been giving Lewis and Clark all manner of problems this evening. “It’s got to be torture to defend against Odoi,” writes Benjamin Park. “Since Tuchel has come in and he’s got more game time, every defender not necessarily struggles, but at least looks petrified whenever he gets the ball.”
75 min: Nothing comes of the corner.
74 min: Fraser crosses from the left. Willock pings a header down and up towards the top right. Kepa turns it around the post, a fine save by a goalie slowly gaining in confidence after all that jittery first-half footwork.
72 min: Fraser comes on for the uncharacteristically quiet Saint-Maximin.
71 min: Werner nearly zips clear of Lascelles down the inside left. Lascelles sticks a hand on his shoulder, the striker going to ground. It would have been a soft penalty, but it should have been given. Lascelles has certainly walked a thin line this evening.
70 min: Kante comes on for Mount.
69 min: Chelsea turn the screw a little, Giroud sending a close-range header straight at Darlow, Hudson-Odoi firing through the six-yard box from the right, neither Werner nor Giroud anticipating the cross. So close to a third that would put an end to the evening once and for all.
68 min: Almiron and Christensen chase a ball that’s heading out for a throw. Neither can put the brakes on before stepping onto the artificial surround, and both men clatter into the hoardings in full that’s-gotta-hurt style. A spectacular crash, but thankfully both survive it.
66 min: Corner for Chelsea out on the right. Mount sends it long. Newcastle clear. It’s suddenly gone a little scrappy. Not sure who that benefits, but with time marching on, as is its wont, it certainly doesn’t do Chelsea too much harm.
65 min: Gayle makes way for Joelinton.
64 min: Alonso and Werner again combine cutely out on the left. Newcastle just about keep the door shut, but these two have been excellent tonight. A constant menace.
62 min: Shelvey spots Kepa a few yards off his line, and tries to score from the halfway line. Full marks for ambition, but it’s all a bit floaty and Kepa’s not going to be caught out by that. Another on-target save for the stats! Sam Johnstone and Jordan Pickford better watch out.
60 min: Chelsea come again, Werner again causing all manner of issues for Newcastle out on the left. His low cross tees up Alonso, whose drive is blocked. Werner tries again, and this time finds Kovacic, who attempts to find Hudson-Odoi with a diagonal dink. Too much on it. Goal kick. But after a slow start to the second half, Chelsea are beginning to cause a few problems again.
Updated
58 min: Hudson-Odoi, in a little space just inside the Newcastle box on the right, pulls back for Kovacic, who sends a screecher inches over the bar.
57 min: Saint-Maximin unceremoniously shoulders Azpilicueta off the pitch. The Chelsea captain isn’t happy. Newcastle have certainly made their presence felt physically this evening, as poor old Abraham can attest.
56 min: A free kick for the Toon out on the left. Chelsea hold an extremely high line. Almiron takes ... but rolls it infield for Shelvey, whose shovel down the middle is easily batted back. All a bit odd.
55 min: But a goal up the other end will kill the game. Hudson-Odoi takes on Lewis down the right and hits across Darlow, who fingertips out for a corner. The corner’s worked short, then Darlow parries Azpilicueta’s low drive clear.
53 min: Saint-Maximin turns the burners fully on, reaching the byline and snapping a low cross to the near post. Willock can’t wrap his foot around the ball, sending his snapshot wide left. Half a chance out of absolutely nothing, that.
52 min: Gayle barges down the right and whips infield. Christensen heads away comfortably.
50 min: That’s a confident start to the second half by Newcastle, though, as they go in search of the game’s next goal. Breaking news: they can’t let Chelsea score it.
Updated
48 min: Gayle is bowled over by Jorginho, 30 yards out. Shelvey takes the free kick, sending a harmless one towards the top left. Kepa catches, and he’ll soon be passing Angus Gunn and Adrian on the old save-ratio chart if he keeps on like this.
Updated
46 min: Newcastle come out on the front foot, Saint-Maximin twisting down the left and teeing up Hayden to force a shot through a thicket of players. It’s an easy snaffle for Kepa, but that’ll do his dreadful shots-to-saves ratio the power of good.
Chelsea get the second half underway. No half-time changes.
Half-time checklist. Pour yourself a drink. Prepare a snack. Nip to the toilet. Subscribe to the Fiver.
HALF TIME: Chelsea 2-0 Newcastle United
The whistle goes to end a very good half for Chelsea and Timo Werner in particular. It’s difficult to see how Newcastle will come back from this.
45 min +2: ... Azpilicueta intercepts and sends Mount into acres down the left. Mount drags a shot across the face of goal and wide right. A poor effort. For a second, that looked like three and out for Newcastle, who desperately need to hear the half-time whistle.
45 min +1: Werner flicks it on at the near post, forcing Shelvey to turn out for another corner. Shelvey clears the second. Newcastle launch a counter, but ...
45 min: Some space for Alonso and Werner down the left. Another corner. Having scored their ninth goal of the season from a corner, can they make it ten before the break?
44 min: Kepa hoicks the ball out for a throw again, having made a meal of playing out from the back. He’s not had much to do, but his footwork hasn’t convinced.
Updated
42 min: Mount isn’t far away with a 25-yarder that curls just wide of the top left. Chelsea are playing extremely well.
40 min: Werner’s taken another smack in the mouth! Newcastle want to watch this, because after the first belt he set up one and scored another.
GOAL! Chelsea 2-0 Newcastle United (Werner 39)
The corner’s hit long. The ball clanks off Lascelles and drops to Werner at the far post. The striker swivels and steers it in from close range. He made that look easier than it was, because the ball didn’t drop perfectly for him, and he made sure of bundling it over.
Updated
38 min: A lovely sweeping move upfield by Chelsea, Kovacic starting it out deep on the left with a raking pass towards Mount in the centre, who shuttles it on to Hudson-Odoi on the right. A corner’s earned. From which ...
36 min: A determined run by Hudson-Odoi down the right. Spaces opening up as a result. Shame then that he plays a strange ball infield that goes backwards and out of play on the other flank.
34 min: Werner is on one now. Kovacic gently wedges a pass down the inside-right channel, Werner meeting it first time and sending a screeching effort inches over the bar. So close to making it two.
33 min: Chelsea’s tails are up now. Jorginho floats a long pass down the middle. Giroud is lurking, but Darlow races out of his box and heads spectacularly clear.
GOAL! Chelsea 1-0 Newcastle United (Giroud 31)
Werner, perhaps fuelled by injustice, or a sting of pain, tears off down the left. He stops, then goes again, tricking Krafth. He fizzes low towards the near post. Darlow palms out amid a melee, but can only tee up Giroud, the substitute firing the rebound into the unguarded bottom right. Chelsea have some reward for their dominance!
Updated
30 min: Werner has taken a smack to the mouth from Lewis, and receives some running repairs for a split lip.
29 min: Take two. Shelvey hits it long. Saint-Maximin tries a trick but is dispossessed and suddenly Werner is breaking up the right on the counter! Newcastle are short at the back, but Lewis catches up and puts a stop to his gallop.
28 min: Almiron dances and dribbles down the right to earn Newcastle’s first corner of the game. Shelvey takes, Rudiger forced to head behind for another corner.
26 min: Jorginho quarterbacks a long pass towards Alonso, racing into the Newcastle box down the left. Alonso cushions a header inside for Werner, who steers a first-time shot inches wide of the right-hand post. Werner probably had a little more time than he realised, though it was a cute, instinctive effort and would have been a picture-book goal.
24 min: Hudson-Odoi glides in from the right, along the edge of the Newcastle area. He can’t quite work space to shoot, but it’s a fine run, and he lays off to Kovacic, who attempts to sidefoot towards the bottom right. Blocked.
22 min: A couple of Newcastle attacks as Chelsea adjust to their new circumstances. Gayle dribbles down the inside-right channel, only to be stripped of possession; then Saint-Maximin probes from the left but is unable to get a shot away. That’ll give the visitors a little boost of confidence.
20 min: Off he goes. Much sadness in the eyes. No blame should be attached to Lascelles, though; there was an accidental tangle of legs after the defender made a legal tackle, and that’s where Abraham suffered a twist and/or a whack.
18 min: Abraham is down again. A rueful shake of the head.
17 min: Lascelles gave Abraham quite a clatter, mind you, the striker collateral damage in a good old-school challenge. He takes a fair while to get up, but eventually manages it.
Updated
15 min: Kovacic wedges down the centre of the park. Abraham is clear! Simple as that. A goal looks on the cards, but Lascelles charges in and puts in a perfectly timed crunching tackle. That’s quite brilliant and almost certainly saved a goal.
Updated
13 min: Chelsea are pinning Newcastle back. Hudson-Odoi charges down the right and fizzes into the area, low and hard. The ball pings out for a corner. Before it can be taken, Abraham sits on the turf awhile, grimacing, but he’s up again quickly enough. Then Werner heads the corner behind for a goal kick.
11 min: Werner drops a shoulder to reach the byline on the left, but his cross is too close to Darlow, who claims easily.
9 min: Shelvey chips a pass down the left, looking for a second as though he’s sprung Gayle clear. But Kepa reads the danger, coming quickly to the edge of his box to smother.
7 min: Chelsea work the corner, from the left, short. Mount curls in. Abraham, eight yards out, should do better than heading harmlessly wide right. Chelsea certainly pose a threat at corners; they’ve scored eight goals from them this season, a record matched only by West Ham.
Updated
6 min: A deep corner finds Alonso, whose attempted header back across the face of goal pings out for another corner, this time on the right. Azpilicueta meets this one, and it’s heading into the top left, but Gayle eyebrows it out for a third corner in the sequence.
5 min: Werner dribbles at pace down the left, then lays off to Alonso on the outside. Alonso’s low cross is deflected out for the first corner of the match.
4 min: The first touch of the ball for Kepa. He clanks a pass out for a throw under no pressure. He gives Hudson-Odoi, who had busted a gut to try to keep the ball in play, a sheepish thumbs-up.
3 min: A bit of space for Alonso, just inside the Newcastle box. He creams a speculative shot towards the bottom left. Darlow smothers it easily enough.
1 min: Gayle goes charging down the right and draws a cynical foul from Werner. A bit later in the game, and that could well have been a booking, a clip from behind.
Newcastle get the ball rolling, but only after all the players take the knee. There’s no room for racism. Kick it out.
The teams are out! Chelsea are in their royal blue; Newcastle wear a much nicer version of their famous black and white stripes than they did in the days of Papiss Cisse. We’ll be off in a couple of minutes!
Updated
Steve Bruce talks to Sky. “It’s a cruel one for us, because we all know what a contribution Callum Wilson has made. To lose your main goalscorer in any team is difficult, but it’s always somebody else’s opportunity so let’s hope Dwight Gayle can fill his boots. We think he’s ready and I hope he grasps the opportunity. We know we have to defend right, but lately we have been a little more adventurous going the other way, and we hope we’ve got a threat up the top end of the pitch.”
A reminder of what happened the last time Newcastle won at Stamford Bridge. The state of that Newcastle kit, though.
Updated
Thomas Tuchel tells Sky Sports why he chose Kepa over Mendy. “We need a strong Kepa in our squad, and he had a good game in the cup, so we decided to give him another match to build up a little bit of rhythm and confidence, and to trust him because he did very good. And at the same time to give Edouard the chance to mentally recover, it is a demanding position. So with one decision we have both advantages.”
Updated
Chelsea make four changes to the side named for the win at Sheffield United. The most noteworthy: Kepa makes his first Premier League start since the 3-3 draw with Southampton in early October. Edouard Mendy drops to the bench, along with Ben Chilwell, Reece James and Olivier Giroud, whose places are taken by Callum Hudson-Odoi, Marcos Alonso and Tammy Abraham.
Newcastle make four changes to the side that beat Southampton nine days ago. Ciaran Clark, Jamaal Lascelles, Dwight Gayle and Emil Krafth replace the injured Javier Manquillo, Callum Wilson and Fabian Schar, and the suspended Jeff Hendrick.
The teams
Chelsea: Arrizabalaga, Azpilicueta, Christensen, Rudiger, Hudson-Odoi, Jorginho, Kovacic, Alonso, Mount, Werner, Abraham.
Subs: Kante, Pulisic, Zouma, Mendy, Giroud, Chilwell, Ziyech, James, Emerson Palmieri.
Newcastle United: Darlow, Krafth, Lascelles, Clark, Lewis, Willock, Hayden, Shelvey, Almiron, Gayle, Saint-Maximin.
Subs: Dubravka, Dummett, Matthew Longstaff, Carroll, Joelinton, Ritchie, Fraser, Murphy, Sean Longstaff.
Referee: Peter Bankes (Merseyside).
Preamble
Thomas Tuchel and Chelsea are enjoying quite the honeymoon. Four wins and a draw since the German took over. You’d expect them to make it five victories tonight, on account of both their form and Newcastle’s predicament: the Magpies are 17th in the table, having lost eight of their last 12 games. Newcastle have also lost every one of their last eight matches at Stamford Bridge. Look at it like that, and this is a home banker.
However, sport can be strange, and this season is stranger than most. Newcastle can take heart from a recent upturn in fortune, winning superbly at Everton and holding on for victory against Southampton with just nine men. If they play with the verve they showed at Goodison, anything is possible, though they’ll be without their injured star turn Callum Wilson. But succour is succour, and you take it whenever you can.
Chelsea will leap into fourth if they emerge victorious tonight. The Toon can rise to 15th with a win, putting ten points between themselves and the relegation places. Both sides will be hungry for it. It’s on!
Kick off: 8pm GMT.
Updated
