Chelsea
cruised to an emphatic win over a poor Newcastle side to send the
Magpies back into the Premier League relegation zone at Stamford Bridge.
The home side stormed into a 3-0 lead within the opening 20 minutes of the game as Newcastle contributed to their own downfall.
The Blues had already seen a Nemanja Matic snapshot fly wide by the time Diego Costa opened the scoring after five minutes, slotting home Willian’s superb through ball from close range.
And within four minutes, Rolando Aarons played a risky square pass inside his own half, allowing Pedro to race through before planting a fine finish past Rob Elliot from outside the box.
With 17 minutes on the clock, Guus Hiddink’s side made it three goals from as many shots on target when outstanding play by Costa set up Pedro to strike past the demoralised Elliot
Those goals meant that, before the break, Newcastle had sunk below Norwich on goal difference to return to the Premier League relegation zone.
As they continued to struggle, defender Steven Taylor was booked for bringing down Costa on halfway.
It could have been four soon afterwards as Branislav Ivanovic had a shot blocked and Pedro saw another effort saved after the Magpies had again given the ball away.
The only sour note of the first half for Chelsea came when captain John Terry appeared to hurt himself when landing after winning a header and came off to be replaced by Baba Rahman.
Newcastle, who brought on Jack Colback at the break, showed more fight at the start of the second period and could have had a penalty when Aleksandar Mitrovic was caught by Cesc Fabregas on the corner of the box before Jonjo Shelvey had an effort blocked by Cesar Azpilicueta.
But they were four down before an hour had gone when Pedro was played through by Fabregas and chested the ball down before finishing low for his second goal of the game.
Once that goal had gone in, Costa was brought off and replaced by Bertrand Traore as Blues boss Hiddink looked ahead to the Champions League clash with PSG next week.
Newcastle’s misery was complete with eight minutes to go when Azpilicueta fired in a devastating low cross and Traore slid in to guide the ball into the corner, and there was still time for Hazard to miss a chance from another Fabregas pass.
And with seconds remaining, Andros Townsend fired a fine low shot from the edge of the area to pull one back for the Magpies.
The home side stormed into a 3-0 lead within the opening 20 minutes of the game as Newcastle contributed to their own downfall.
The Blues had already seen a Nemanja Matic snapshot fly wide by the time Diego Costa opened the scoring after five minutes, slotting home Willian’s superb through ball from close range.
And within four minutes, Rolando Aarons played a risky square pass inside his own half, allowing Pedro to race through before planting a fine finish past Rob Elliot from outside the box.
With 17 minutes on the clock, Guus Hiddink’s side made it three goals from as many shots on target when outstanding play by Costa set up Pedro to strike past the demoralised Elliot
Those goals meant that, before the break, Newcastle had sunk below Norwich on goal difference to return to the Premier League relegation zone.
As they continued to struggle, defender Steven Taylor was booked for bringing down Costa on halfway.
It could have been four soon afterwards as Branislav Ivanovic had a shot blocked and Pedro saw another effort saved after the Magpies had again given the ball away.
The only sour note of the first half for Chelsea came when captain John Terry appeared to hurt himself when landing after winning a header and came off to be replaced by Baba Rahman.
Newcastle, who brought on Jack Colback at the break, showed more fight at the start of the second period and could have had a penalty when Aleksandar Mitrovic was caught by Cesc Fabregas on the corner of the box before Jonjo Shelvey had an effort blocked by Cesar Azpilicueta.
But they were four down before an hour had gone when Pedro was played through by Fabregas and chested the ball down before finishing low for his second goal of the game.
Once that goal had gone in, Costa was brought off and replaced by Bertrand Traore as Blues boss Hiddink looked ahead to the Champions League clash with PSG next week.
Newcastle’s misery was complete with eight minutes to go when Azpilicueta fired in a devastating low cross and Traore slid in to guide the ball into the corner, and there was still time for Hazard to miss a chance from another Fabregas pass.
And with seconds remaining, Andros Townsend fired a fine low shot from the edge of the area to pull one back for the Magpies.
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