Chelsea vs Newcastle - The Debrief

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Chelsea's recent record against Newcastle United continued following Monday night's 2-0 victory at Stamford Bridge as we look at those players who made significant contributions in defence, midfield and in attack.

Olivier Giroud celebrated scoring Chelsea's opener 


Kovacic the controller

Chelsea's Croatian midfield maestro Matteo Kovacic delivered another excellent performance and kept up his good run of form. The Croatian help to set the tone for Chelsea's display with an assured performance whilst in possession and showing willingness to carry the ball further up the field and pick spaces in the Newcastle defence. 

Kovacic recorded the highest figures in the game for possession (10%). touches (107), pass completion rate (96%), passes (86), most successful passes in the final third (21/24) and dribbles (8).

Matteo Kovacic's impressive numbers in Chelsea's victory 

In fact the Croat accounted for eight out of Chelsea's successful nine dribbles. Only Mason Mount with five created more opportunities, with Timo Werner, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Marcos Alonso recording two key passes.

Werner scoring again once more 

Timo Werner's goal was his first goal in the league for precisely 1000 minutes, and ended a run of 31 attempts without scoring. Despite this, Werner has still made significant goal contributions with five goals and five assists more than any other Chelsea player in the premier league this season.

Most importantly these statistics don't take into account the number of penalties won (4), nor include his great work leading in the build-up to Olivier Giroud's opening goal on Monday night as a result of goalkeeper Karl Darlow's intervening touch.

Werner's goal was very well deserved and one of the four attempts he had during the game. The German also provided two chances and had eleven touches in Newcastle's box , a very high amount during the game.

Timo Werner's touchmap which shows how he stated out wide often before driving infield

Overall Chelsea had 18 shots overall, split equally between right foot, left food and headers. A third of these were on target. Marcos Alonso's five shots were more than anyone else and Chelsea created four big chances.

Chelsea defensively disciplined needed 

As Chelsea's head coach noted, the Blues were far less imposing in the second half and Newcastle fought to try and get back into the game. Eight o Newcastle's ten attempts came in the second half , with only six of Chelsea's 18 attempts coming in the same timeframe. Both Chelsea's pass completion and possession stats dropped in the second half in comparison to more corners and tackles won in the first half. Chelsea were also forced into making more clearances whilst 2-0 up as well.

Chelsea's defence nonetheless stood firm to record a fourth consecutive clean sheet in five outings. Also a mention to Chelsea's captain Cesar Azpiliqueta who had an excellent performance in the game, recording the highest figures for most number of tackles won for Chelsea (five), clearances (four) and interceptions (two). 

The average position of Chelsea's starting 11 on Monday night notice how wide the wing-backs are positioned

Out of the 31 aerial duels contested Chelsea won 20, with Marcos Alonso, Andreas Christensen and Olivier Giroud coming out of top each with four. Alonso's ball recoveries of 10 was another high figure throughout the game.

Newcastle shot down again 

Chelsea's victory over Newcastle was their ninth consecutive home victory over the Magpies in all competitions. Chelsea now have eight consecutive home wins against a single opponent for the first time since winning nine in a row against West Bromwich Albion between 1984 and 2013.

Olivier Giroud notched up his ninth premier league goal against Newcastle, the same number which he has managed to do against Aston Villa, even though this was first first success in eight league games.

This also proved to be the first game in which Thomas Tuchel has managed on a weekday. His tally of 13 points from five games has only been bettered by both Carlo Ancelotti and Maurizio Sarri who both managed to achieve 15 points from their first five games respectively.

For more articles on news relating to Chelsea Football Club please visit my twitter account 

Location: London, UK

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