Chelsea 2-0 Newcastle
In the late kick off of the day Chelsea tried to reclaim their position at the top of the Premier League table and win a 3rd Premier League match inside a week. To do that however they'd have to defeat a Newcastle side that had beaten them in the same fixture last season.
The match started slowly with very little to talk about in the first 15 minutes or so as both teams battled it out in the middle of the park and limited each other to decent shooting opportunities. In fact many of the early shots from both teams blazed over the bar as neither team could fathom a decent half between them.
The came alive around the midway point of the first half with Newcastle launching an attack that earned them a corner, the first corner of the match. The corner it's self did little for Newcastle and Chelsea broke quickly before Fernando Torres was brought down in the penalty area by Vernun Anita. It was to be Chelsea's 3rd penalty in as many games, though with normal penalty taker Frank Lampard being rested the duty fell to Eden Hazard who calmly slotted in the spot kick and scored his first goal for Chelsea.
The opening goal saw the game open up slightly and gave the likes of Hazard and Torres more time on the ball. After being booked in the 39th minute for a dive Torres appeared to get angry and played like a man possessed. The Spaniard gave the Newcastle defenders a real headache before scoring a beautifully crafted goal as Hazard linked with him just before half time as the Blues doubled their lead.
In the second half Chelsea crafted yet more chances as Torres and Hazard ran the Newcastle defense ragged with the two men linking together time and time again, though Chelsea couldn't add to their lead.
Roberto Di Matteo will be a very happy man. Chelsea are sitting happy atop the Premier League table with a maximum of 9 points, they are looking like an ever improving team and looked genuinely sensational at times today. Fernando Torres looked like a man on a mission to prove that he was worth the astronomical transfer fee that Chelsea payed for him and his link up play with Eden Hazard was genuinely sensation as they two men seem to be able to read each others mind now. Hazard, for the 3rd game in a row looked great, he looks like he's getting better, though really it was the return of the Torres of old that stood out as he looked like he was having real fun out there. It's scary to think just how fun Chelsea will be to watch when the whole team is settled together.
Newcastle will need to lick their wounds here and admit they were simply beaten by a much better team. Whilst they did have the odd chance here and their they didn't deserve to take anything from this game as they were always second best. Pardew will know his team were out played and although he may blame the trip to Greece on Thursday he knows his team, at their best, would still have struggled with the side Chelsea put out. Despite the loss Hatem Ben Arfa was once outstanding and appears to be playing with confidence, a scary thought for the rest of the Premier League.
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