On Saturday night, Newcastle United beat Chelsea 1-0 at Stamford Bridge, giving their bid for European qualification new life. This was the Magpies’ first win at this ground since 2012, and it made things even worse for the Blues, who were still reeling from their 5-2 loss to Paris Saint-Germain earlier in the week.
Tino Livramento’s sharp pass broke through the Chelsea defence in the 18th minute, letting Joe Willock run in on goal and set up Anthony Gordon, who scored the game-winning goal. Chelsea had the ball 66.6% of the time and took 22 shots, while Newcastle only took seven. However, Liam Rosenior’s team couldn’t break through a strong Magpies defence.
Trevoh Chalobah and Liam Delap, who came on as a substitute, both came close with headers. Captain Reece James hit the post with a trademark free kick, but the equaliser never came. After the final whistle, Eddie Howe praised his team’s hard work on defence:
“I think the defensive mentality was incredible today, especially off the back of a massive week for us. We haven’t defended well enough this year… but today, we stood up.”
Rosenior, the Chelsea manager, said that the performance wasn’t all bad, even though the result was disappointing. He pointed to a strong start before the goal changed the game:
“I wouldn’t say it’s all wrong. First 15-20 minutes, we had chances. The goal gave Newcastle energy.”
Newcastle’s win puts them ninth in the table, six points behind Chelsea, who are fifth. There are still eight games left in the season.
Chelsea Have a Huge Job To Do Against PSG
In the first leg at the Parc des Princes last Wednesday, PSG scored three goals in the last 20 minutes to beat Chelsea 5-2. Filip Jorgensen, the custodian, made a mistake that gave the ball to Kvaratskhelia. Vitinha took advantage of this by chipping the ball over the stranded keeper to make it 3-2. Kvaratskhelia then scored two more goals in the last few minutes to put PSG firmly in control.
The second leg will be played at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday, March 17, with the game starting at 8 p.m. UK time. Chelsea will need to do something amazing to come back from a three-goal deficit against the reigning European champions after losing a home league game without scoring for the first time since August 2024. Newcastle, on the other hand, know that they have to beat Barcelona at Camp Nou to keep their own Champions League hopes alive.