Chelsea: Four Key Matches That Defined Their Season
2. January 18, 2020, Chelsea drops points in stoppage time in Newcastle
After Manchester City snapped their six-match Premier League winning streak, Chelsea’s form became inconsistent. The loss to City was followed by a loss to West Ham, a win against Aston Villa, and then two losses to Everton and Bournemouth. The concern among fans was that the club was dropping points against teams that Chelsea should be beating.
A 2-0 win at Spurs seemed to calm some nerves initially, but a loss at Stamford Bridge to Southampton by another 2-0 scoreline fanned the flames again. The Blues were just merely inconsistent. The same club that could pull off a six-match league winning streak could also be on and off like a broken light switch at any given moment.
Although, the Blues seemed to pull things together and regained some positive form in the next three matches by winning two and drawing one but the damage was done as they had fallen to fourth in the table. Manchester United and Sheffield United were all now in striking range of the last Champions League spot.
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It was unclear which Blues team was going to show up on a gray, bleak winter afternoon in Newcastle. Will it be the Chelsea that rampaged Wolverhampton or the Chelsea that crashed and burned like a toy rocket against Southampton?
Steve Bruce‘s Newcastle United had developed a reputation of gutting out three points in hopeless situations. Their offense was ranked last or near last in every statistical category in the Premier League, yet they were reasonably comfortably in mid-table.
Bruce chose to use a 3-4-3 in an attempt to blunt the Blues attack as they threw out a frontline of talisman Abraham, partnered by Willian, and the struggling Callum Hudson-Odoi.
Offensively, Frank Lampard’s charges controlled the match. They had the majority of the possession (70% to 30%), chances (19 shots on goal to seven), and passes (554 to 189). The Blues xG was 2.05.
Chelsea’s defense pressed the Magpie’s offense throughout the match, rendering them virtually lifeless. Newcastle was allowed only an average of 4.23 passes in Chelsea’s defensive zone before they made a defensive action. Their xG was 0.55, heading into injury time.
The score? 0-0.
In last minute of the match, Allan-Saint Maximin sent a curling rainbow of a cross towards the far post where Isaac Hayden had suddenly appeared like a villain in a horror movie. His header into the net won the match for Newcastle United. Another win out of nowhere for the Magpies. Another missed opportunity for the Blues.
The match represented the continued pattern of matches where Chelsea had dominated play, however, they could not convert opportunities into goals, and in the wrong moment, they gave up a divisive goal.