Good afternoon and welcome to Overtime’s coverage of the lunchtime kick off at St James’ Park between Newcastle United and Chelsea. I’m Ryan Moran and I’ll be taking you through the action this afternoon.
The Magpies have lost once at home in their last seven against the visitors today, drawing one and winning the other five.
Isaac Hayden got a late winner the last time the sides met on Tyneside.
The home side lost to Southampton in their last game before the international break while Chelsea beat Sheffield United 4-1.
The early kick-off can allow Chelsea to put pressure on the other sides at the top. A win would put them top for a few hours for the first time since 2018 when Maurizio Sarri was in charge.
A big test for Chelsea with Thiago Silva out due to international duty. Who will partner Kurt Zouma in the centre of defence?
The team news is in.
Kick-off: Craig Pawson gets the game underway and the home side look to build on an impressive record against Chelsea at home.
2′: First attack goes to Newcastle but Frederico Fernandez’s header is put behind for a corner which Chelsea defend.
4′: Chelsea go down the other end with Timo Werner calling Karl Darlow into action who gets down well to deny the German the opener.
8′: It’s been all Chelsea since the third minute as Tammy Abraham holds up the ball well for Mateo Kovacic who fires over the bar.
10′: Goal for Chelsea as Fernandez puts the ball in his own net from a Chelsea corner. Ben Chilwell was there but it was the Newcastle defender with the final touch.
14′: A chance for Chelsea to double their lead is just inches away from Abraham. Werner’s blistering run down the left ends in him squaring the ball across goal. Without an interception that was a tap-in for Abraham.
17′: The home side are sitting very deep, trying to deny Chelsea any space. They have pace on the wings in Jacob Murphy and Allan Saint-Maximin but Chelsea are as yet untroubled.
20′: The absence of Silva and the inclusion of Antonio Rudiger is a big test for the German and Chelsea. Their challenge today is to keep Joelinton quiet, a striker with no goals in eight appearances. Zouma beats him comfortably to a header.
23′: Chance for Chelsea after neat passing from N’Golo Kante into Hakim Ziyech who plays out to Reece James. His cross causes trouble but Newcastle do enough to keep it to 1-0.
24′: The first real defensive work for Chilwell as Murphy runs him down to the right hand corner but the Chelsea left back gets his body in the way and invites a foul from the Newcastle winger.
27′: Mateo Kovacic gives the ball away cheaply in midfield and Joelinton sees Edouard Mendy off his line. The shot however was a wayward and allows Chelsea to continue to dominate possession.
30′: Abraham’s lay-off puts Werner one-on-one but he tries to be too clever and passes the ball wide of the left post.
32′: Saint-Maximin is the danger man for Newcastle with his trickery. His back heel nearly finds an equaliser but Edouard Mendy snuffs out the danger and collects the ball.
35′: Joelinton feeds Saint-Maximin on the left who runs across the Chelsea box waiting for the right time to shoot and Kante blocks to give Newcastle a corner.
36′: Chelsea break immediately with Werner copying Saint-Maximin but Jamaal Lascelles gets a foot in and injures himself in the process. Hakim Ziyech’s shot is off target and the Newcastle captain can get treatment.
39′: Hayden brings down Kovacic 20 yards from goal, earning him his third yellow card of the season. Ziyech and James over the free kick but the Moroccan’s left foot, for once, lands in the gloves of Darlow.
43′: A half chance for Newcastle as Saint-Maximin feeds Jamal Lewis to cross from the left but Chelsea clear with relative ease. Newcastle are growing into this game.
Half-time here at St James’ Park and Fernandez’s own goal has his side behind at the break.
Kick off: Fabian Schar replaces Lascelles who was struggling at the end of the first half. Chelsea leading after Fernandez’ own goal after ten minutes.
51′: Miguel Almiron warms up on the side with a cloud over his head. His agent’s comments in midweek about coronavirus stifling a move away from Newcastle certainly ruffled Steve Bruce’s feathers.
52′: A mistake from substitute Schar allows Werner in but instead of shooting he tries to square it and Newcastle survive.
54′: Zouma rises at the corner but couldn’t turn it goalwards for his fourth Premier League goal of the season.
56′: Ziyech hasn’t quite been at the races today. His usual wizardry not quite as on point as Chelsea fans have come to expect. Another easy catch for Darlow.
57′: A big chance drops for Hayden, as Rudiger fails to clear, and he blazes it over. Chances are VAR would have ruled it out for handball as the defender’s attempted clearance struck the midfielder’s arm. Warning signs for Frank Lampard’s side though.
59′: Another chance for Steve Bruce’s side. Saint-Maximin feeds Joelinton but he leans back and watches it rise over the bar.
61′: James prevents Lewis racing down the left and is hurt but the England international, who played in the international break, hobbles back to his feet with a grimace.
65′: Goal for Chelsea. A Saint-Maximin cross is blocked and Werner races away and plays in Abraham who slots it in off the front post. Breathing space which Chelsea so vitally needed after 20 minutes of Newcastle pressure.
65′: A second change for Newcastle as Javier Manquillo is off and Almiron comes on. An attacking change for the home side.
68′: Almiron’s first action sees him sell Rudiger with a dummy but Joelinton is offside and they can’t capitalise on catching Chelsea short at the back.
73′: Saint-Maximin makes way for Andy Carroll, Newcastle now likely to go two upfront and test the resolve of Chelsea’s centre back pairing.
75′: Disallowed goal for Chelsea as Ziyech plays in Werner who rounds Darlow to finish but he is offside. He now makes way for Callum Hudson-Odoi, a change more to rest his legs with a packed schedule.
77′: Kovacic clips a ball over the top to play in Mason Mount but his contact with the ball was anything but clean and his shot rolls wide of the far post.
78′: Almiron unleashes a deflected effort which Mendy thought needed saving. The corner is a comfortable catch for the Chelsea stopper.
80′: Hudson Odoi drives down the left, plays a neat one-two with Abraham but his shot is blocked.
81′: Emerson Palmieri replaces Chilwell who suffered a knock in the Belgium game for England. Another precautionary substitution you would think.
84′: Newcastle have a throw-in deep in Chelsea’s half and pass it all the way back to Darlow. It sums up how they have set up to play from the first minute.
86′: Substitution for the away side as Ziyech makes way for Olivier Giroud. A prolific goalscorer on the international stage who plays much more of a support role at club level.
90′: Three minutes of stoppage time here on Tyneside. The points are all but secure with only Carroll venturing into Chelsea’s half in the past minute or so.
92′: Carroll drives deep into the Chelsea half, played on by Emerson and goal-bound his effort is sent wide by a deflection from Rudiger.
Full-time and Chelsea are top of the Premier League on goal difference. Depending on other results this weekend they could drop as far as sixth.
Thank you for following today’s sequence of events with us. We will be back on Tuesday for Chelsea’s visit to France in the Champions League to play Rennes, who they beat 3-0 at Stamford Bridge in the third round of fixtures.
