Rosenior admits lack of mental freshness affected Chelsea after Magpies' claim Stamford Bridge win

Blues v Magpies. Pic by @JTaylorSport

Chelsea 0 Newcastle United 1

Liam Rosenior lamented Chelsea’s shortcomings after a disappointing 1-0 defeat against Newcastle United at Stamford Bridge.

It was an evening for shining a spotlight on the disciplined Tynesiders, who performed a masterclass in organisation, to the extent that the Blues spent virtually the entire second half in utterly unconvincing manner. A listlessness spread across the Chelsea, and events of the last few days, both at home and against Paris Saint-Germain in France, caught up with them.

The west Londoners may have had plenty of possession - but a sheer lack of ingenuity and confidence in front of goal illustrated obvious flaws as Newcastle deserved a first win at Stamford Bridge in 14 years. A first half goal by Anthony Gordon sufficed for the Magpies on what proved to be a highly satisfactory away day to the capital. It is now three home games without victory for Chelsea, who sit fifth in the Premier League table, a point above Liverpool who play Tottenham Hotspur tomorrow.

The second half in particular saw Rosenior’s charges dominate proceedings but there seldom appeared any likelihood of a leveller. While there was probing, there were precious few hints of punishment aimed at Eddie Howe’s outfit.

“They had nothing in the game and we gave them a goal”, said Chelsea head coach Rosenior. “Every mistake we seem to make seems to end up in the back of our net.

“The first fifteen-twenty minutes we were in control but the goal gave Newcastle the confidence they needed. And we lacked a bit of mental freshness in the final third.

"We haven’t kept a clean sheet and that is disappointing. Today was a difficult day but I still see good things in our performances."

The main question around Stamford Bridge prior to kick off was in relation to the depth of disappointment since the 5-2 Champions League reverse against PSG in midweek. With the return leg on Tuesday, it is already a tall order for the Blues to retain their interest in the competition. A brace of late goals by the French giants may well have secured their passage to the last eight as well as revenge for losing the Club World Cup final.

However, in theory, the visit of Newcastle United should have been particularly welcome. The Magpies arrived with a total of 11 defeats and one draw in 12 games behind them. Howe’s men extinguished the hex admirable, much to the joy of their vociferious travelling fans.

The one piece of good news for the Blues, ahead of the clash was the signing of a new contract for Reece James. The skipper, unsurprisingly, received a rousing reception from the home fans.

Industrious

Under a bright spring day in west London, both teams were industrious early on and Chelsea went closest to scoring in the ninth minute, when Wesley Fofana headed a few inches over the crossbar.

Yet, for once, the hosts were opened up through the middle and a lack of concentration resulted in the Magpies swooping to take the lead with 18^th minutes gone.

Gordon rolled the ball into the net after a defence splitting pass by Harvey Barnes picked up Joe Willock. The two forwards combined, and Gordon – who missed Newcastle’s recent Champions League draw against Barcelona due to illness – had the easiest task to score. Questions will surely be asked of Fofana and Malo Gusto as a result – both were clearly caught cold.

Chelsea responded with a better amount of possession but in terms of asking questions of the Newcastle rearguard they were lacking. Alejandro Garnacho was their biggest threat down the left, but too often his assists were easily dealt with. There was also a vulnerability to the Blues on the counter attack, which had already cost them.

Cole Palmer did draw a fine save from Magpies’ goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale in the 37^th minute, but it was a sign of events that the effort was from outside the penalty area. The resistance and organisation by Howe’s men was impressive, with the usual touch and speed of Chelsea forward Joao Pedro missing. As momentum drifted for the home side, Rosenior certainly needed to alter something after the interval.

The Chelsea chief consequently sacrificed Gusto for Liam Delap in an attempt to boost productivity in the final third.

Delap did test Ramsdale with an instinctive shot inside the penalty area as the Blues tried to wrestle against the well-drilled Magpies in search of an equaliser.

Aggressive

Newcastle’s performance was highlighted by individuals such as Lewis Hall. The England left back was aggressive going forward when opportunity arose, in addition to keeping Pedro quiet. Malick Thiaw and Sven Botman were major figures as a central defensive partnership too.

For all Chelsea hustled, there remained an overall lack of conviction to their play, with Palmer another on the margins, and Delap losing his cool in good scoring positions. James went close enough with a free kick which hit the base of the post in added time – that was as good as it got for the Blues.

The final minutes, rather than witnessing a critical flourish by Chelsea, it was a picture of leaden unconviction. Little wonder the last time Blues fans saw a league win at home was at the end of January against struggling West Ham. Somehow, Rosenior has a significant freshening up job on his hands.

Nonetheless, all this is not to detract from Newcastle United. The Magpies’ resilience was superb throughout and was ultimately key to their smash-and-grab act of stealth.

“It’’s nice to end the (disappointing) record and it was such an important victory after two massive games”, said Howe. “It was a long overdue defensive performance, We needed that.

“I’m just really, really pleased. It has been a positive day. We needed to win today to give us that confidence to go to Barcelona”.

Blues: Sanchez, Gusto (Delap 46), Fofana (Hato 82), Chalobah, Cucurella, James, Caicedo (Lavia 60), Fernandez, Palmer, Garnacho, Pedro