Goals from Pedro and Willian were enough for Chelsea to get the three points at Stamford Bridge against a determined Newcastle side.
See the player ratings below
Kepa: Barely had anything to do in the game, and his handling as well as his composure were excellent. 6/10
Azpilicueta: Had a difficult evening against former Blue Christian Atsu but Cesar came out on top. Went forward pretty well. 6.5/10
Rudiger: Solid evening against Solomon Rondon. Was strong in defence. 7/10
Luiz: Made the assist for Pedro’s goal with a stunning pass from defence. Made a number of excellent pass from deep for the forward players including one for Willian after Newcastle’s goal. Could be blamed for losing his marker as he let Ciaran Clark get above him to score. But other than that, he was solid in defence. 8/10
Alonso: Another average performance. Really needs to add something extra to his game. 6/10
Jorginho: He was sloppy in the build-up to the Newcastle goal, and he was sometimes sloppy in possession. 5/10
Kante: Was the engine room in Chelsea’s midfield. He worked hard, pressed high, won balls and even created opportunities for his teammates. Beginning to play this role really well. 7/10
Kovacic: Average performance from the Croatian midfielder. Looked tired at times. 6/10
Willian: Was quite poor in the first half and missed a good opportunity from Luiz’s sublime pass from deep. Was thrilling in the second-half, and scored a sublime goal to seal the victory for Chelsea. 7.5/10
Pedro: Was Chelsea’s best player in the first-half. Worked very hard, took his goal excellently and was a constant threat. Faded a bit in the second period. 8/10
Hazard: Looked isolated upfront, but performed better in the second-half. Produced some sublime skills to beat about three Newcastle players in the buildup to Willian’s goal. 6.5/10
Subs
Barkley: Didn’t do too much after coming on for Kovacic in the 63rd minute. 6/10
Hudson-Odoi: Didn’t have enough time to show his tricks, but had a couple of nice runs despite being on the pitch for a few minutes. 6/10
Giroud: Came on late for Hazard with three minutes left of normal time.
