Chelsea v Newcastle: Premier League – live | Premier League

Full-time! Chelsea 2-1 Newcastle

90+8 min: They’re still playing and Newcastle are still trying to deliver a ball into the box. They manage to do so and James keeps Chelsea ahead at the death! A wonderful diagonal finds Willock at the far post and his head across the face of goal is intercepted by James who heads it out for a corner. Can Newcastle steal a draw? Pope goes up.

90+7 min: Chelsea’s defence holds firm. That is surely that.

90+6 min: Last minute of added time. Nkunku again in the thick of it. He commits a foul just inside his own half. Newcastle with one final chance to hoof the ball into the mixer.

90+3 min: Nkunku is booked for an ugly hack on Guimaraes. Maresca is furious! He thought his man won the ball. The manager is booked too. What a scrappy end to this game.

90+1 min: VAR overturns the penalty decision! So surely Nkunku should be booked for diving? Longstaff is booked for arguing too vociferously. Anyway, justice prevails and Newcastle have a glimmer of hope still.

Hooper is going over to the screen. I’d be floored if he doesn’t reconsider his decision after another look.

If this sticks it will be one of the softest penalty decisions I’ve seen. Nkunku was held, no doubt, but there’s no way Burn’s soft touch had enough force to bundle him over.

89 min: Simon Hooper points to the penalty spot! Nkunku goes down after Palmer’s cute touch unleashed him. Burn lunged at him but is there enough contact for this to be upheld?

88 min: Neto is booked for a late challenge. Joeltinton, who was Newcastle’s best player, is subbed. So is Hall. On come Osula and Kelly.

87 min: Nkunku has a chance on the edge of the box. Nope, he doesn’t take it, instead he takes a touch, then another, then another. He simply doesn’t want to shoot with his left. But rather than pass he dallies and eventually the ball is lost. His teammates weren’t too impressed with that.

85 min: Chelsea get a free-kick in their own half and they are in no rush to take it. They really are crawling their way to the finish line. Neto gets a sniff inside Newcastle’s box after a few lucky bounces, but he can’t latch onto the loose ball. Newcastle come again.

83 min: As if to prove that Chelsea are looking anxiously at the clock, Sanchez is booked for time wasting.

81 min: Livramento and Murphy combine for a neat one-two down the right flank and the former is tearing down the touchline. Defenders rally so Newcastle have to slow things down. They lack the precision to work their way through the wall of blue and in a flash Chelsea are in Newcastle’s box. Palmer is again pulling the strings and eventually it lands for Mudryk who shoots but straight at Pope.

78 min: Palmer makes an interception on half-way and rather than rush his delivery forward, he slows things down. Again, that’s fantastic from the youngster who seems to move at a different pace to everyone else. As a result Chelsea can enjoy a spell of possession and regain some control.

77 min: Gusto leaves the pitch for Cucurella. Jackson also makes way. On comes Nkunku. Chelsea are holding on a bit here and seem ragged. Newcastle, with a bit of bravery and accuracy, can still nick a result.

74 min: Isak has blown a golden chance! What has happened there! He was put through on goal. Admittedly he was wide and had to do some work. A step-over saw him ease past Sanchez but now thew angle was really acute. So he cuts back towards the middle of the box. Rather than pass to Longstaff he tries to find the room to shoot which gives Caicedo the opportunity to slide in and tackle. It bobbles out for a corner but that should be 2-2.

72 min: Tell you what, since I wrote off Newcastle they’ve dominated possession. Guimaraes is seeing more of the ball, though that hopeful diagonal was always going to bobble away for a goal kick.

Lavia is hooked and replaced by Enzo Hernandez. That’s a good change for Chelsea who could do with a bit of spark.

70 min: Newcastle have managed just one shot all game. I’m struggling to see what their plan is, beyond trying to counter when Chelsea press forward. More limbs in the middle might help.

As I type that, though, Isak headers towards goal and James has to make a timely block. Brilliant ball from Murphy after being set loose by Joelinton on the left.

67 min: Schar chooses to aim for the top corner closest to the keeper but it was always going over. A pretty weak effort to be honest.

Chelsea make a change as Mudryk replaces Madueke.

Newcaslte have made three changes. Almiron, Tonali and Barnes make way. Murphy, Longstaff and Willock enter the scene.

65 min: Oooh, there’s a clash off the ball as Hall is bundled over by Madueke – who gets booked – and Newcastle have a free-kick in a promising position. It’s around 35 yards out just off centre of the goal. A perfect place for any right-footer.

64 min: Ah, Barnes makes a mess of a great opportunity. A big pass out to the left finds him in space. He has an option of a runner to his outside but chooses to cut infield to work the short. His touch is heavy so he needs another one, but that’s heavy as well. In the end he commits a foul.

Tonali then acts like a child, delaying a quick free kick from Chelsea, and gets booked.

62 min: Another long ball, this time from James, comes to nothing. Have Newcastle decided to drop a little deeper in the hope of springing a counter? The game has fallen into a lull, or is this the calm before the storm? Both teams taking stock before their substitutes perhaps?

60 min: Joelinton again drops deep and serves as a conduit between attack and defence. He almost sparks a move upfield but Chelsea do win it back and now they’re forming something inside Newcastle territory. The Magpies have dropped deeper now, forcing Chelsea to play around them. The plan works. Chelsea lose their patience and a speculative long ball hands possession over.

58 min: Joelinton drops very deep, almost at left back, to help out. It works. Newcastle keep possession and work their way through Chelsea’s high press. Isak gets the ball and takes it to the byline where he dinks in a dangerous cross that requires James to intervene with a clearing header. Better from Newcastle and perhaps a sign that it’s simply a case of supplying more bodies where they’re needed.

55 min: Newcastle need to get a grip in midfield. They’re still set up in a 4-3-3. Maybe they need to match Chelsea’s 4-2-3-1? Again they give the ball away and Madueke has it on the right flank. He holds onto it before trying to slide in Gusto on an overlap, but it’s just a touch overcooked and out for a goal kick.

53 min: The Newcastle goal is getting peppered! Gusto cuts onto his left and fires a shot. It’s well wide, but the Magpies are falling apart. Their midfield is nonexistent at present.

51 min: Again Newcastle lose it on halfway and Chelsea break. Jackson is leading the charge but a sloppy touch on the edge of the box slows things down. He plays a ball to his right for Madueke who has to check his run. But rather than pass, the winger opts to cut onto his left foot and shoot. It’s a tame effort and Pope gathers it as it bobbles along the turf.

49 min: Neto headers against the post! Madueke and Caicedo combine well down the right and when the cross is delivered deep, Neto rises and meets it with a stiff header. He did so well to climb above his marker but got unlucky. An inch or two to the right and he’d have found the net.

GOAL! Chelsea 2-1 Newcastle (Palmer, 46)

We’re back. Can either side pull clear?

G’Day D.G,

G’day to you, Chris Paraskevas.

(Don’t ask what time it is).

I won’t. Glad you also think daylight savings is silly.

You’re all worried about VAR but the true crime against football (and my retinas) is Chelsea’s holographic badge.

As much as I’ve seen some shocking lows as a Newcastle fan, at hours that make Daylight Saving and the rotation of the planet irrelevant (e.g. Bowyer-Dyer Title Fight), I’ve never seen anything as visually offensive as the current Chelsea badge and kit.

Nice finish from Isak by the way. I’m off to find more caffeine.

Good luck with the caffeine run and thanks for the message. For what it’s worth I am actually on Team VAR. But I agree, I’m not a fan of that Chelsea strip, though it does earn points for the absence of a sponsor on the front.

Once again we’re talking about VAR.

Justin Kavanagh thinks we;’re heading down a path the leads to players getting electrocuted on the pitch:

The offside rule is getting ridiculous and this constant reversion to VAR to measure whiskers is taking both the mickey and the joy out of football. Soon, some training-ground guru is going to put tracker GPS on strikers or administer shocks to the body beyond the offside line, similar to the invisible fence technology that keeps dogs in their place. Stay… stay Cole… now go, go fetch boy!

Half-time: Chelsea 1-1 Newcastle

45+7 min: Newcastle will get a final chance before half-time to deliver a decent ball into the box after Gusto flies in and makes a reckless challenge. Hall stands over it from the left flank.

45+6 min: Colwill leaves a bit on Isak right before the break. It’s not a foul, but they do need to bring play to a momentary halt.

45+5 min: Pope does well this time to hold on to Palmer’s corner. Clear plan from Chelsea to test Pope on set pieces. Every ball they’ve played in has teased the keeper, inviting him to either punch or grab it.

45+3 min: James’ corner is nudged out for another corner. Newcastle have yet to concede from a corner all season. Can they hold out til the end of the half? Palmer’s in-swinger is right on Pope and he punches it out for another corner.

45+2 min: Good from Jackson has he holds it up and then plays a ball on the half-turn. Madueke offers width and then feeds Gusto on the overlap. His clipped ball to the back post is headed out for a corner.

44 min: Neto has pulled out a good ol’ fashioned dive. He didn’t sell anyone with that one. Rather than receive a free-kick on halfway, it’s a Newcastle throw. Joelinton, though, does get a freekick and Newcastle build again from the back.

43 min: It’s getting heated! First Lavia and Barnes hack at each other. Then Pope comes tearing out of his box to sweep up a long ball but in doing so takes out Jackson on the canter.

41 min: Another shot from Neto. This time he forces a save from Pop after it take a deflection from outside the box. It still required saving and a diving effort kept it out and behind for a corner.

40 min: Palmer sparks another move after a slick nutmeg in the middle of the park. It’s then moved on to Madueke who cuts infield from the right. Rather than shoot he feeds Neto who checks once, twice, and then lets fly, but a great block Livramento sees it out for a corner.

38 min: James is biffed by Almiron on halfway and the Newcastle forward gets a stern word from the ref. Chelsea have responded well since the goal. They’re a bit more controlled in possession with Lavia seeing more of it in central midfield.

36 min: I said this had all the ingredients of a proper ding-dong battle, and that’s what we’ve got so far. Chelsea nick the ball off Newcastle and the space opens for Caicedo on the edge of the box, but his shot is sliced and ends up well wide.

GOAL! Chelsea 1-1 Newcastle (Isak, 34)

Has Fofana’s right boot kept Isak onside? It’s a long delay. I think he’s off.

We’re level! Or are we? They’re checking if Isak strayed offside before bundling in a goal.

31 min: It’s end to end! I can barely keep up. Now Newcastle have a corner and Isak gets away from his marker, but he can’t get his head around the ball enough and his effort from the near post goes wide.

29 min: Palmer delivers a wicked corner that forces Pope to punch from his own line. But Newcastle get a let-off when Fofana commits a silly foul.

27 min: Three Newcastle shots serve as a reminder that they won’t lie down. The first two – from Isak and Tonali – are blocked. Almiron gets his through the defensive wall but Sanchez saves easily. It all started with a great ball forward for Isak who then showed some neat footwork to hold up play in time for his mates to arrive in support.