Newcastle prevail at Stamford Bridge to leave Chelsea with just one win in five

[p]The first opening - of sorts - fell to the hosts after a nice cross to the far post from [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/garnacho-alejandro/jqrfFKsi/"]Alejandro Garnacho[/a], but [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/chelsea/4fGZN2oK/"]Chelsea[/a] academy graduate [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/hall-lewis/rJOyDa3N/"]Lewis Hall[/a] was able to poke it away before the in-form [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/joao-pedro/CAmJERl2/"]Joao Pedro[/a] could poach another goal.[/p][p]The resulting corner was turned behind once more, and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/fofana-wesley/Aw7tVHPM/"]Wesley Fofana[/a] came close at the second time of asking, heading narrowly over the bar from the set-piece.[/p][p]The Blues continued to pile on the pressure, with both Garnacho and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/palmer-cole/h8agbDt7/"]Cole Palmer[/a] spurning presentable opportunities inside 15 minutes.[/p][p][b]But the breakthrough came against the run of play, when [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/willock-joseph/j3oBtT40/"]Joe Willock[/a] capitalised on a ragged defensive line to run clear of the Chelsea defence, squaring to [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/gordon-anthony/EFo95m2P/"]Anthony Gordon[/a] for a tap-in.[/b][/p][image alt="Gordon's goal" id="f6a82b24-3226-436f-b615-d121ebf67cbe" credit-line="Action Images via Reuters / John Sibley" guid="dc0f38fd-c660-4c7e-a717-d138750d2e62" original-width="1080" original-height="1080" /][p]Fofana did not cover himself in glory, and was in trouble again a little later, surviving a brief red card check after felling Gordon as he looked to run through on goal.[/p][p]VAR again favoured the hosts towards the end of the half, declining to send Paul Tierney to the monitor after [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/james-reece/nLBC7ERa/"]Reece James[/a] appeared to haul down Malick Thiaw in the box from the now-standard corner-kick melee.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/rosenior-liam/4fMAHvLm/"]Liam Rosenior[/a] introduced [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/delap-liam/6cfkytBh/"]Liam Delap[/a] at half-time, and he almost had an immediate impact, forcing a smart save out of [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/ramsdale-aaron/dnohA1sG/"]Aaron Ramsdale[/a].[/p][p]But the match quickly settled into a familiar rhythm, with the visitors looking largely unperturbed at the back and threatening on the break. [/p][p]A misjudged pass from [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/sanchez-robert/Q74F6aqr/"]Robert Sanchez[/a] nearly spelt disaster for the home side, but Fofana somewhat made up for his earlier error with a strong challenge on Gordon.[/p][p]The VAR pendulum swung the [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/newcastle-utd/p6ahwuwJ/"]Magpies[/a]’ way when [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/woltemade-nick/4YDUd1at/"]Nick Woltemade[/a] seemingly felled Palmer in the box, the makeshift midfielder never looking especially comfortable in his role.[/p][p]The strong appeals were waved away, and though Chelsea kept knocking, they simply could not find a route to goal.[/p][p]Delap came close to an equaliser five minutes from time with a glancing header that drifted wide, before a stoppage-time James free-kick glanced off the post, but the visitors hung on for the win.[/p][p]Chelsea have now won just two of eight home league games this season against teams who started the round in the bottom half of the table.[/p][p]They therefore miss out on the chance to pull level on points with Aston Villa and Manchester United above them, while [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/howe-eddie/hbOpz9hE/"]Eddie Howe[/a]’s side rise to ninth and within six points of their hosts.[/p][p][b]Flashscore Man of the Match: [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/gordon-anthony/EFo95m2P/"]Anthony Gordon[/a] ([a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/newcastle-utd/p6ahwuwJ/"]Newcastle[/a])[/b][/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/chelsea-4fGZN2oK/newcastle-p6ahwuwJ/summary/stats/?mid=juf03THP"]Catch up on the match stats with Flashscore[/a][/b][/p][image alt="Momentum" id="0cbe90f0-18be-4293-b035-39d52490680e" credit-line="Opta by Stats Perform" guid="a1e497dd-3f21-4b71-a82d-49e83204720b" original-width="1920" original-height="1080" /]