Eddie Howe facing major £148m decision as Newcastle United make history v Chelsea
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The Magpies banished any demons from their defeat against the Blues on Sunday to put in a very composed performance at St James’ Park with a three-minute first-half double enough to see off Chelsea. Alexander Isak opened the scoring when he pounced on some good work by first Joelinton and then Sandro Tonali to slide the ball past Filip Jorgensen.
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Hide AdThe Magpies were 2-0 up just minutes later when Axel Disasi put through his own net after a neatly worked free-kick. Here are five things to takeaway from Newcastle United’s win over Chelsea:
Anthony Gordon boost
All eyes ahead of the game were on Gordon and whether he would be fit enough to start having missed Sunday’s game through injury. Gordon travelled to Stamford Bridge at the weekend but wasn’t deemed fit enough to feature.
However, three days on and Gordon was able to start the match, much to the delight of many Newcastle United fans. And right from the start Gordon made his presence known with a lung busting run to press the Chelsea defence which was greeted by a huge roar from the home crowd.
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Hide AdAlthough his presence in the game faded somewhat as the match progressed, his very first few moments really helped set the tone for the rest of Newcastle’s performance, one that was much improved from what they have shown for large parts of the season. With Arsenal to come in less than 72 hours time, Gordon’s return to fitness, and hopefully form, couldn’t come at a better time for the Magpies.
Bruno shows his worth - again
Speaking ahead of the game, Howe hinted that he may rest the Brazilian. Guimaraes’ appearance as a second half substitute was his 80th for club and country since the beginning of last season, with the majority of those coming as a starter.
Despite this admission from Howe, Guimaraes’ omission from the starting lineup was still a slight surprise. The Magpies didn’t necessarily struggle without him in the middle of the park, but by full-time, everyone in St James’ Park had been reminded of his superstar quality.
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Hide AdTime and time again Guimaraes won free-kicks for his side that helped slow the game down and played a key role in winning the ball back and setting up attacks. He may have only had 30 minutes on the pitch, but Guimaraes left it as one of his side’s standout players.
Joelinton/Joe Willock link up
Guimaraes’ cameo was overshadowed by his compatriot Joelinton who put in a tireless performance sprinkled with great quality to drive his side to victory. Linking up again with Willock on the left, as they did so successfully during the final few months of the 2022/23 season, the pair were brilliant down that side and posed Chelsea a whole host of problems.
Speaking after the game, Howe lavished the Brazilian with praise and the relationship he and Willock have together in that part of the pitch: “[Joelinton] is not your conventional winger, he’s a hybrid of different qualities but plays the position brilliantly for me, he always has done.
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Hide Ad“If someone said to me what is Joelinton’s best position I’d struggle to give you an answer which is a brilliant thing for me to have within the squad. Sometimes when you pick a team it’s not just about the player in the position, it’s about the relationships that form around and having an understanding and bringing out the best in other players. Willock and Joelinton did that tonight.”
£148m headache
With Joelinton and Willock impressing on the left, Howe is left with a huge decision to make ahead of Saturday’s game with Arsenal. It would be very harsh to see either dropped this weekend, but with Gordon back to fitness and Harvey Barnes, the club’s joint-top scorer this season waiting in the wings, Howe has an almighty headache on just who to pick on that side against the Gunners.
‘Don’t change a winning team’ as the old adage goes, could come into his thoughts, but an embarrassment of riches on the left could mean he is forced into some changes. In a way, it’s a nice headache to have and one he rarely had last season, but there can be no room for getting that decision wrong at the weekend.
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Newcastle United have secured themselves a place in the Carabao Cup quarter-final for the third season in a row - the first time the club have ever achieved that under the competition’s various guises. Although they have not yet been able to go the distance in the competition, it is a hugely positive step forward for Howe’s team that they are beginning to go deep in cup competitions on a regular basis.
Howe though, wants more: “I think it does say something because I think the early rounds in any cup competition are very difficult as we found out against Cambridge and Sheffield Wednesday.
“Your attitude most importantly in the early rounds has to be spot on or you’ll be eliminated but we’ve navigated those pretty well. Later in the competition when you come up against teams like Chelsea and you have to back the players with the ability to win games like that and I think the more games of this calibre we can win, these are the acid tests really as to where we want to be.
“We narrowly missed out against Chelsea last year which was agonising for us. Fingers crossed we can go a step further this year.”
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