Today’s victory over Chelsea looked it would be routine when Newcastle, leading through Sandro Tonali’s second-minute strike, found themselves playing against ten men shortly after the half-hour mark when Nicolas Jackson launched his elbow into Sven Botman’s face.
In the end, things were not as straightforward as they should have been, with Eddie Howe’s side becoming increasingly nervous despite their numerical advantage in the second half, but after Nick Pope made an excellent fingertip save from Enzo Fernandez, Bruno Guimaraes settled things with a deflected 90th-minute strike.
The Magpies ultimately prevailed thanks to the effectiveness of their whirlwind start, with their first-half display ultimately a tactical triumph for Howe, whose switch to a 3-4-3 formation paid dividends.
The last time Newcastle had lined up with three centre-halves, they beat Arsenal in the second leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final. The absence of Kieran Trippier and Joe Willock meant Eddie Howe’s hand was forced to a degree, but the decision to switch formation, with Botman returning to play alongside Fabian Schar and Dan Burn, was a clear tactical ploy. It was one that worked.
Even before Chelsea were reduced to ten men, Burn’s man-marking job on Cole Palmer was neutering Newcastle’s opponents. In the Carabao Cup, it had been Schar stepping out of defence to bolster the base of the Magpies’ midfield. Here, Burn did the job superbly, rendering Palmer little more than a bystander.
Enzo Maresca was out-coached, although it helped that Newcastle were ahead from the second minute onwards. The noise ahead of kick-off was remarkable, with Newcastle’s supporters responding to Howe’s pleas for a white-hot atmosphere, and the decibel levels rose even higher within the opening 120 seconds.
Tonali sparked the move that ended with him scoring, pressuring Romeo Lavia in Chelsea’s defensive third and winning the ball off the midfielder. Guimaraes spread play to Jacob Murphy on the right, he clipped a cross into the box, and having broken into the area, Tonali was left with the simple task of steering home.
It was a dream start for the Magpies, whose intensity and aggression from the off appeared to catch their opponents cold. With Anthony Gordon and Harvey Barnes able to drive infield to support Alexander Isak as Murphy and Tino Livramento supplied additional width from their respective wing-back berths, Newcastle swarmed all over the Chelsea backline in the early stages.
Isak hooked a half-volley at Robert Sanchez after Botman nodded the ball down to him, but Chelsea were just beginning to get a foothold in the game when Jackson’s moment of madness left the visitors with an enormous mountain to climb.
The Senegalese striker was starting to get frustrated long before he eyed an aerial challenge with Botman, but that was absolutely no excuse for the forearm smash that he planted into the centre-half’s face. The intent was obvious given that Jackson looked at Botman to see exactly where he was directing his arm, and while referee John Brooks initially brandished a yellow card, he was quickly instructed to reassess his decision by VAR. Quite rightly, it did not take him long to change his mind and issue a straight red.
With a numerical advantage as well as a one-goal lead, Newcastle pressed forward in an attempt to make the game safe. Burn headed just wide after Tonali crossed from the right, before Howe changed formation ten minutes into the second half, taking off Botman and reverting to a flat back four as the need for an additional defender largely disappeared.
That said, however, Chelsea had their best spell of the game at the start of the second period. For the first time, Palmer started seeing some of the ball, and with Murphy now finding himself in an orthodox right-back position, Marc Cucurella began to cause problems down Chelsea’s left.
The Spaniard was effectively playing as a winger, and almost scored just after the hour mark as he fired in a low angled drive that Pope clawed to safety. Sensing the growing danger, Howe quickly brought on Emil Krafth and pushed Murphy forward into his more usual right-wing position.
The change didn’t really stem Chelsea’s growing momentum though, and Pope had to make a brilliant save with nine minutes left as he touched Fernandez’s drive over the crossbar.
The Blues went close again when Reece James failed to find the target with a close-range header, but Newcastle made their win safe in the final minute. Burn teed up Guimaraes, and from the corner of the 18-yard box, the Brazilian fired in a shot that looped over Sanchez via a deflection off James.