Chelsea 1-0 Newcastle: Three Things We Learned

In a battle between two of the richest clubs in world football (prior to recent events), Chelsea went toe to toe with Newcastle United on Sunday afternoon at Stamford Bridge. For long spells it seemed as if the game was going to come and go without a second thought, but a late goal ensured that the Blues were the ones who came away as the victors.

The Roman shadow

The big problem that Chelsea had to face coming into this was the cloud of Roman Abramovich’s ongoing sanctions, dolled out to him by the British government. The problem has put the club under sustained pressure from a financial standpoint and at this moment in time, it’s not yet known how it’ll all end. If it persists over the course of the next couple of weeks, or potentially months, they could be in trouble.

Newcastle’s heart

Newcastle United are going places and that much is clear for just about everyone to see. They’ve been on a great unbeaten run as of late and while you could argue they deserved the point, Eddie Howe can still be mightily proud of what his squad accomplished. Who knows, maybe in a few years we’re going to see the roles reversed in a ‘favourite/underdog’ sense between the Blues and the Magpies.

Chelsea dig deep

It wasn’t pretty to watch during certain points, but the manner in which the hosts beat Newcastle was, simply put, a joy to behold. Kai Havertz was at the forefront of the operation with a sublime touch and finish from a sensational Jorginho pass in the 89th minute, sending Stamford Bridge into a frenzy. They may be heading for a bad patch but if they are, they’re going to go down swinging – and that’s about as admirable as anything they’ve done all season.