Chelsea labors their way to an exciting blowout against Newcastle

Don’t get me wrong, Chelsea winning 3-0 is good under any circumstances. And while the scoreline wasn’t quite as flattering by the end as some other matches have been this season, this was still a very different story until Reece James decided to do it all himself.

Getting the worst out of the way, the first half and the opening of the second half were pretty awful to watch. Newcastle came with a clear plan to defend and counter and they were doing an excellent job at it. The Blues played their part in that equation too by maintaining tons of possession without any purpose.

This isn’t new for the Blues by any means. When the opposition defends like Newcastle, Chelsea has a very bad habit of playing very safe passes. No one wants to make a run or try anything risky and it turns into an 80-20 possession split without anything happening very quickly. Much of this issue starts up top.

Generally, a 3-4-3 will go into a 3-2-5 shape in situations like this. It’s very important that the front five (usually the three attackers and the wingbacks) don’t go flat against the defensive line. Depth is necessary for runs and balls in behind and as soon as the line goes flat, the entire weight of the attack is pushed to the midfield and defenders. It didn’t help that Kai Havertz and Callum Hudson-Odoi were particularly safe and Hakim Ziyech was often offside in his best moments (which were far too few).

Right after the subs happened, Reece James found himself with tons of space in the box. It still took a fantastic finish, but the Blues pulled ahead. From that goal on, the Blues really started cooking. James was finding tons of space on the flank as the attacking line started to create more depth with the introduction of Ross Barkley and Ruben Loftus-Cheek (whose role was to get ahead of Jorginho in midfield rather than stay next to him).

James would repeat his first goal with a second fantastic strike which really put wind in Chelsea’s sales. A Kai Havertz penalty from a ball in behind later and Jorginho put the Blues well ahead.

As poor as the first half was to watch, the closing minutes when the Blues knew they were winning were very fun. In other matches where Chelsea has labored yet still won by two or three goals, the Blues continued to labor throughout. Here, the goals took the weight off and allowed Chelsea to reach a new gear.

That bodes well for other matches like this one, such as Burnley next week. The Blues may not look great until they score, but if they do score, they will be able to pile on. Newcastle never looked close to being a threat and all Chelsea had to do was score. That sounds simple enough, but it’s something that’s been a struggle for the team for a few years to varying degrees.

Liverpool drew Brighton and Manchester City lost to Conor Gallagher, er, Crystal Palace. The Blues maintain their spot at the top of the table while creating distance from their title rivals.