Liam Rosenior has lost two games in a row for the first time since he took over at Chelsea. Anthony Gordon’s goal in the 18th minute was the only one of the game at Stamford Bridge on Saturday, as their result against Newcastle ended a bad week for the Blues. They lost 5-2 to Paris Saint-Germain in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie in the middle of the week.
Joe Willock’s perfectly timed run from midfield let him get away and set up Gordon for an easy tap-in. Chelsea had 22 shots to Newcastle’s seven, but they had a hard time getting past the Magpies’ strong defence. Reece James almost saved a point in stoppage time, but his powerful long-range free kick hit the post.
Even though he was upset, Rosenior stood firm in his post-match press conference, saying that Chelsea are on the right track because of his overall record since taking over from Enzo Maresca in January:
“For me, I showed the players the league table up until today in terms of my time with this group. We’re third in the league. Third in the league in my time with the group. And it feels like sometimes it’s not that, but that’s the case.”
The 41-year-old also turned down suggestions that his team’s form is slipping, pointing to their 4-1 win over Aston Villa in their last Premier League game as proof.
“We’re not out of it. You know, the last league game we played, we won 4-1 at Aston Villa. Today was a really difficult day, a frustrating day, because we didn’t get the result that we want. But I still think there’s a consistency in our performances.”
Before this loss, Rosenior’s teams had won 10 games, drawn 2, and lost 3. Chelsea are still in fifth place, but they have played one more game than Aston Villa and Manchester United, who are three points ahead.
Chelsea Face Herculean Task Against PSG in Champions League Second Leg
Rosenior and his players don’t have much time to think about this loss because they have an even bigger challenge coming up on Tuesday. At Stamford Bridge, Chelsea will host Paris Saint-Germain in the second leg of their Champions League last-16 tie. The game will start at 8 p.m. UK time.
The Blues are down 5-2 after the first leg at the Parc des Princes, where PSG scored three goals in the last 20 minutes to make the tie very close. Chelsea had tied the game twice thanks to Malo Gusto and Enzo Fernandez, but a terrible mistake by goalkeeper Filip Jorgensen changed the game completely in PSG’s favour.
Chelsea need to score at least four goals without giving up any in order to move on. This seems almost impossible because they are having a hard time scoring right now. Chelsea only hit the target with three of their 22 shots against Newcastle, which is a worrying stat before what looks like the biggest test of Rosenior’s time in charge so far.