Chelsea 3-0 Newcastle United: 5 Talking Points
Final score: Chelsea 3-0 Newcastle
Goalscorers: Michy Batshuayi 31', 44(Chelsea), Marcos Alonso 72'(Chelsea)
Chelsea cruised to a convincing 3-0 win against Newcastle United in their FA Cup 4th round fixture at Stamford Bridge last night. Antonio Conte made his intentions clear even before a ball was kicked, when he named a starting line-up consisting of several crucial first team players including Eden Hazard, Andreas Christensen, N'Golo Kante and Marcos Alonso.
The gamble paid off handsomely for the Premier League champions who ensured their progression to the next round of the competition on the back of a first-half brace from Michy Batshuayi and a stunning free-kick from Alonso in the 72nd minute. Newcastle provided little resistance and failed to force the initiative on the hosts.
Without further delay, let's take a closer look at the 5 major talking points from the game:
#5 There's nothing as sweet as Alonso's left-foot
When Kevin Friend correctly awarded a free-kick to Chelsea at the edge of the penalty area in the 71st minute, for a foul on Davide Zappacosta, there was little uncertainty surrounding the fact as to who should step up to shoulder the responsibility.
Marcos Alonso has been more than dependable from situations like these and he reaffirmed his status as Chelsea's expert free-kick taker when he curled it past Karl Darlow with relative ease to put the game to bed.
The full-back has earned the plaudits for his technique ever since joining Chelsea last year and the goal ensured that he retained his spot as the highest scoring defender in England since the beginning of 2017.