Chelsea 2-0 Newcastle United, 9 out of 9
Chelsea’s win over an underwhelming Newcastle gave them their third in three games. Eden Hazard scored his first Chelsea goal and continued his impressive run of form; Fernando Torres found his second goal in four days and rounded up a solid individual performance.
Di Matteo gave starts to Gary Cahill and Raul Meireles as he rested John Terry and Frank Lampard. Ryan Bertrand started his second premier league game with Ramires dropping to the bench. Newcastle lined up as expected, Vurnon Anita started instead of the injured Tiote while Coloccini had recovered to start beside Steven Taylor.
Alan Pardew’s setup was identical to the 2-0 win from the previous season. Newcastle sat very deep in the first half and looked to break through the flanks, Demba Ba and Cisse occupied Chelsea’s defense which has struggled against physical center forwards.
Bertrand starting on the left of midfield gave Chelsea a solid defensive approach against Ben Arfa with Cole doubling up he struggled to influence the game down the right. Demba Ba dropped deeper onto Mikel to make up for the numbers in midfield, this left Cisse isolated against Cahill and Luiz who marshaled him without much difficulty. Chelsea’s back 4 held a relatively higher line squeezing up the space in front of the Newcastle midfield forcing Demba Ba and Cisse away from their goal. This particularly was very effective as both Ba and Cisse don’t run channels behind the defense. There were only a couple of instances where Ba tried to break behind the Chelsea defense, all much too comfortable for Chelsea.
Fernando Torres on the other hand was having an excellent game; he was picking up the ball and running the Newcastle defense something which never happened two seasons ago. Torres eventually was fouled inside the penalty area by Vurnon Anita after he sped past Davide Santon, Hazard dispatched the resulting spot kick to put Chelsea ahead. There was a certain amount of reluctance in Torres taking shots from good positions, but after a quick 1-2 with Hazard on the edge of the box, Torres instinctively drove the ball into the roof of the net with Tim Krul left clutching at thin air.
Chelsea went into half time 2-0 ahead and with relative ease, Meireles and Mikel were have excellent games the latter in particular was very impressive, kept himself available for passes from defense and released the ball quickly. Mikel has been found stranded in the last few games, partly due to Lampard’s movement into the final thrid. While Meireles doesn’t often venture forward but him clipping away at players’ heels gives more freedom for Mikel to express himself.
Newcastle were missing Cheik Tiote not only was he excellent in breaking up play but also drove with purpose and allowed Cabaye to connect with the forwards. Anita in his first premier league start was struggling to cope with the movement of Mata and Hazard which affected Cabaye’s game. Newcastle looked a disjoint unit throughout the game. Ben Arfa took up a more central position in the second half; Newcastle pushed Santon and Simpson further up field but the service remained poor. Ben Arfa dragged his shot wide from 18 yards after skipping away from a challenge; Demba Ba from a tight angle forced a comfortable save from Cech after the ball fell kindly to him. A snap shot from Papiss Cisse was straight at Cech who held with ease. Bertrand was inches away from making it three for Chelsea with a stinging drive from 25 yards.
Newcastle’s best opportunities came from wide positions or dead ball situations as they continued to struggle in front of goal, Cisse heading a Ryan Taylor freekick over the bar from 6 yards. Substitute Sylvaine Marvoux’s excellent cross found Taylor at the back stick whose knockdown to Ba could only force Cech into a smart save, Chelsea though held on and registered a comfortable victory and sit pretty on top of the league with 9 points.
Di Matteo though operating with rigid 4-2-3-1 setup showed his flexibility with personnel, using Bertrand to neutralize Ben Arfa. Bertrand’s impressive performances, now along with Ramires offer a defensive cover if and when required. Newcastle on the other hand though blessed with two exceptional strikers need to find a pair who complement each other, Ba scoring only 2 goals in 16 games since Cisse’s arrival is testimonial to the fact they struggle to operate with each other. A quick forward who can play off the shoulder of the last defender would have caused more problems to Chelsea.