Chelsea 3-2 Newcastle: Palmer stars again as Blues edge out Toons in five-goal thriller
Chelsea relieved some of the pressure on coach Mauricio Pochettino with a 3-2 Premier League home victory over fellow mid-table side Newcastle United on Monday, with Cole Palmer, the Blues' best player this season, creating one goal and scoring another.
Chelsea's Senegal striker Nicolas Jackson diverted a Palmer shot past goalkeeper Martin Dubravka in the sixth minute, but Newcastle equalised in the 43rd minute when Alexander Isak curled a shot past the diving Djordje Petrovic.
Chelsea, urged on by their fans after some turned on Pochettino and the club's U.S. owners in a 2-2 draw at Brentford nine days ago, regained the lead in the 57th minute when Palmer, the Blues' top scorer this season and a candidate to represent England in the Euros this year, scored from outside the box.
Substitute Mykhailo Mudryk made it 3-1 in the 76th minute by dancing through Newcastle's defence, rounding Dubravka, and scoring.
Jacob Murphy's fierce shot gave the visitors hope in the 90th minute, but Chelsea held on.
Chelsea now sit 11th, a point and one place behind Newcastle but with a game in hand. Another three points would move the Blues up to eighth place, putting them in contention for the Europa League or the Europa League Conference.
Both clubs have failed to live up to their wealthy owners' expectations, with Newcastle manager Eddie Howe under the same intense scrutiny as Pochettino at Chelsea.
The Argentine could breathe a sigh of relief on Monday as the home fans left Stamford Bridge singing the Bob Marley song chorus "Don't worry about a thing," possibly indicating that most of them are still patient with Pochettino's attempts to build a team from his expensive but young squad.
"We played a very good team with amazing players, it was really tough," he told the BBC. "We made the victory, but we keep looking forward and moving forward - the most important is the three points."
"We are building something different and we need to accept it. Today the fans were good, we need to keep moving and being strong."
Chelsea's only hope for silverware now lies in the FA Cup, where they face second-tier Leicester City at home on Sunday. Newcastle must try to recover in time for their quarter-final against Manchester City on Saturday.
Howe expressed frustration that Newcastle were undone by sloppy defending.
"I thought we were good in lots of aspects of our play tonight," he told talkSPORT radio. "You can't concede goals like that, home or away, and expect to win the game, simple as that."
SportsLigue