Chelsea’s 5-1 demolition of Newcastle is sure to make PSG a little bit nervy about their midweek Champions League clash, as the Parisiens drew 0-0 in their Ligue 1 game against Lille. The Blues played with a freedom that has always been hidden, but existing, under Guus Hiddink, and they finally had a chance to cast off their terrible start to the season and run their grief out on a struggling Newcastle side, who, in all honesty, looked terrible since the 1st minute of the game.
However, the morale boost is all that will matter from this game, and they got many in that department. Before the clock reached minute 5, Diego Costa had put his name on the scoreboard after a tidy sliding-finish onto Willian’s low ball.
Before the clock reached minute 10, Pedro got on the scoresheet after Taylor made a horrendous mistake and passed it to what he supposed was Coloccini. The Spaniard took his opportunity with grace and precision, sliding the ball into the lower left of Elliot’s goal.
Following a somewhat similar pattern, before the clock reached minute 20, Willian got the 3rd goal for Chelsea, after Fábregas’ pass to Costa took the striker out wide from where he put a perfect finesse pass in Willian’s path in a position where it was easier to score than to miss.
The rest of the half saw Newcastle try and fail miserably in their efforts to put up an even match to the Stamford Bridge club. Halftime couldn’t have come any later, from Newcastle’s view, and they were happy when it got here.
The start of the second half saw a much more even playing field, as both teams went toe to toe against one another, which was quite the contrary to the scoreboard. However, it all ended when Fábregas played another phenomenal through ball to Pedro, who settled with his chest and finished on the opposite end to where he put his first goal. This marked the Spanish winger’s second brace since joining Chelsea, and it will do much good in silencing the mouths of some of his critics.
If Newcastle were hopeless before, imagine what this goal caused them to be. Some players took out their frustration on their opposition, getting booked in the process, most notably Jonjo Shelvey for his foul on Chelsea’s creator-in-chief, Cesc Fábregas.
The finishing stages of the game saw Bertrand Traore latch onto an impeccable cross from Cesár Azpilicueta, the Burkina Faso born forward was certainly happy to get his first Premier League goal.
In the 89th minute, Andros Townsend converted the chance that he created with his run, finishing strong onto the lower right of Courtois’s goal. It was too late, however, for Newcastle to eclipse the same sort of comeback they made against Arsenal in their 8-goal thriller two years back, and so, the game ended 5-1 to Chelsea.
Hiddink will hope this 5-star Chelsea performance carries over when they visit Paris on Tuesday to play the Ligue 1 leaders.
