Newcastle United 0-2 Chelsea - Premier League Player Ratings

Let’s take a look at the Premier League Player Ratings from the showdown between Newcastle United and Chelsea at St James’ Park.

An early Federico Fernandez own goal and Tammy Abraham’s second-half strike sealed a fourth consecutive win in all competitions for Chelsea at St James’ Park.

Frank Lampard’s side comfortably had the measure of Newcastle in the first-half and went ahead when Ben Chilwell pressured Fernandez into accidentally poking the ball inside his own net at the 10th-minute.

5 – Since his debut in September 2014, no Premier League player has scored more own goals in the competition than Federico Fernández (5 – level with Lewis Dunk). Misfortune. pic.twitter.com/p6Op0uHwa7

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) November 21, 2020

Newcastle had no response afterward and had just 21% of possession throughout the opening half. The quality oozing from Chelsea was evident, with Karl Darlow having to step in to deny Timo Werner and Tammy Abraham.

The Magpies keeper did well to keep the strike duo at bay, especially when skipper Jamaal Lascelles came off injured.

Werner, meanwhile, didn’t have his best day in front of goal and missed a brilliant chance at the half-hour mark. But he instead saw the ball slip wide, keeping Newcastle’s hopes of a comeback alive.

Although the German made up for it in the second half by setting Abraham up for a smart finish to seal the victory. And just when he rounded Darlow to score, he was flagged for offside. But two goals were more than enough in the end for Chelsea.

Tammy Abraham vs. Newcastle:

◉ Joint-most chances created (3)
◉ Most shots (3)
◉ Most shots on target (2)

And a goal to his name. 🎯 pic.twitter.com/UFeCsZVTor

— Squawka Football (@Squawka) November 21, 2020

The Blues have now moved, temporarily at least, into first-place in the Premier League standings. They’ll next head to Rennes for a Champions League clash on Tuesday.

Newcastle, on the other hand, are 13th and seven points behind the leaders. Steve Bruce’s side do, however, hold a comfortable eight-point gap from the relegation zone. Next up for them will be a trip to Crystal Palace in the upcoming Friday.

Player ratings

Newcastle: Darlow (6); Manquillo (5), Fernandez (5), Lascelles (6), Clark (6), Lewis (6); Murphy (6), Longstaff (6), Hayden (6), Saint-Maximin (6); Joelinton (7).

Bench: Schar (6), Almiron (6), Carroll (6).

Chelsea: Mendy (7); James (7), Zouma (8), Rudiger (7), Chilwell (7); Kovacic (8), Kante (7), Mount (7); Ziyech (7), Abraham (8), Werner (8).

Bench: Emerson (6), Hudson-Odoi (6), Giroud (5).