3 Things that went wrong for Chelsea against Newcastle United
Newcastle United (Gayle 23', Perez 59',63') 3-0 Chelsea
Newcastle United claimed an emphatic 3-0 win over Chelsea at St.James' Park on the final day of the season. Dwight Gayle gave Newcastle the lead in the 23rd minute, pouncing on the rebound from a Thibaut Courtois save.
A second-half brace from Ayoze Perez in the span of four minutes tripled the lead for the Magpies, and with Liverpool were also winning their game against Brighton simultaneously, Chelsea's top four hopes were fading to black in front of their eyes.
The win takes Newcastle to 44 points and ensures them a top 10 finish whereas Chelsea finishes the season in fifth place with 70 points, five points behind fourth-place Liverpool and will be playing Europa League football next season.
On that note, here is a look at the things Chelsea did right:
#3 Lack of Service to Giroud
Olivier Giroud was isolated during his 76-minute stay on the pitch against Newcastle at St.James' Park. His involvement in the build-up proved to be very little as he had only 28 touches which further eliminated his presence as he only had two attempts at goal.
The crossing from the wide players was very ineffective and not up to the standard since only five crosses were successfully completed during the entire course of the game. Giroud has proven to be the X-Factor in Chelsea's resurgence in the games that the Blues have won in the last month.
But with Giroud becoming secluded, it proved to be even harder for Chelsea to stage any sort of a comeback along with the fact that Eden Hazard also had a very poor game.