Newcastle United fans issue 'Mike Ashley' warning to Chelsea and Thomas Tuchel's touchline outburst – moments missed

The build-up

The match that had been billed as the Premier League’s ‘game of shame’ by certain sections of the media given each club’s respective owners saw an unusual atmosphere surround Stamford Bridge ahead of kick-off.

Plenty of cameras, plenty of security but not a great deal of the typical pre-match buzz you’d expect. But come kick-off both sets of fans were in high spirits and looking to continue their respective fine runs of form.

Newcastle went into the game nine unbeaten in the Premier League while Chelsea had won nine of their last 10 games in all competitions – the exception being the Carabao Cup Final shoot out defeat to Liverpool last month.

After beating Southampton 2-1 on Thursday night, Eddie Howe made four changes for the match against the World Champions.

Joe Willock and Jonjo Shelvey dropped out due to illness while Emil Krafth and Ryan Fraser dropped to the bench.

In their place, Sean Longstaff, Javier Manquillo, Jamaal Lascelles and Miguel Almiron came into the side as Howe opted to change to a three centre-back formation for the first time since his first game in charge against Brentford back in November.

Newcastle’s mocking chants

As the match got under way, a section of the away end started chanting “Chelsea’s skint and The Mags are rich” as a mocking reminder of the sanctions imposed on Chelsea owner Roman Abramovic. The ‘Roman Empire’ banner remained on display at Stamford Bridge in spite of the situation.

The chants continued throughout the afternoon with “no noise from the bankrupt boys” and “Mike Ashley, he’s coming for you” being sung by the 3,000 Geordie fans.

The Chelsea fans responded with chants such as “Champions of Europe - you'll never sing that” and “Boris Johnson, he’s coming for you” in what was proving to be a more intense battle than what was happening on the pitch as the game remained cagey and goalless heading into half-time.

VAR steals the show

Unfortunately for Newcastle, these were moments missed by no one except referee David Coote and VAR official John Brooks. After VAR decided to let Kai Havertz escape with a booking for a high elbow on 6ft 7in Dan Burn which left the Newcastle defender with a gash on his forehead – Newcastle were victims of an even more questionable decision as Jacob Murphy was pulled, pushed and tripped by Trevoh Chalobah inside the penalty area but neither the referee nor VAR felt it was a penalty.

Head coach Eddie Howe felt the penalty decision ‘made a mockery’ of VAR as the first words he said to the press following the match were: "I can't look past the penalty. I am hugely disappointed with the decision – and how they've reached that decision. “It is a clear penalty, Jacob has had his shirt ripped off his back near enough, goes down in the box, clear penalty.“How the referee doesn't give it on the pitch, I can understand that. But how the VAR doesn't give it and get him to review the decisions. If they did, he would have seen he got it wrong.”

The Magpies have been on the wrong end of several controversial VAR decisions so far this season with Howe previously writing to the Premier League for answers following calls against Leicester City, Liverpool and Manchester City in consecutive matches.

But the Newcastle boss seems reluctant to write another as he commented: “ These things are usually a waste of energy, so we will wait and see.”

The two key decisions ultimately robbed Newcastle of what would have been a deserved point at Stamford Bridge to end a run of nine consecutive defeats at Chelsea.

Instead, Havertz popped up in the final minute of normal time to peel off Burn and put the ball past Martin Dubravka to snatch victory for Chelsea.

And interestingly, the Chelsea fans booed off the officials at the full-time whistle for a few decisions that went against them – yet the ones that mattered certainly went in their favour.

It was a cruel way to lose for Newcastle as they were beaten for the first time in the league since December 19.

Tuchel and Tindall clash

While the game was goalless, tempers flared on the touchline as Chelsea Thomas Tuchel appeared to take issue with something Newcastle assistant Jason Tindall had done after the referee awarded a free-kick in Newcastle’s favour.

Tuchel had to be stopped from encroaching the Newcastle technical area by the fourth official as he threw his arms in the air and gestured aggressively toward Tindall, who kept relatively calm throughout the process.

The Chelsea boss would get the last laugh as he ran onto the pitch in front of the Newcastle dugout to enthusiastically celebrate the late winner.

It seemed Newcastle had got under Tuchel’s skin considering how much he seemed to relish narrowly beating a side who had been fighting relegation all season. It just shows how far Howe’s side have come over the past couple of months.

But the Newcastle boss didn’t feel the Chelsea boss was purposely trying ‘to rub it in’.

“I don't think it was anything directed at us,” Howe said. “I didn't see it as disrespectful, as I have a lot of respect for Thomas and how he works.“I understand these things happen, and he was caught in his moment."

A missed opportunity?

Newcastle’s nine game unbeaten run has them looking up the table rather than down for the first time all season. A win at Stamford Bridge would have seen United climb to 11th in the table which is something that would have been simply unfathomable back in January.

Instead, they remain 14th and nine points above the relegation zone with 10 games to go.

Next up, Everton.

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