Chelsea at Newcastle player ratings: Three goals on Tyneside

A clinical second-half performance from Chelsea helped it claim a comprehensive 3-0 win against a relegation battling Newcastle United side at St. James’ Park on Saturday. Two stunning goals from Reece James and a penalty from Jorginho helped the Blues extend their lead at the top of the Premier League table as both their title rivals, Liverpool and Manchester City, dropped points.

Newcastle showed very little intention of playing any type of attacking football from the get-go. This frustrated Chelsea a lot and the first half ended level at 0-0. The game opened up in the second half and the breakthrough came in the 64′ as Callum Hudson-Odoi’s cross was cleared as far as Reece James in the box. The right wingback was given enough time to shift the ball to his weak foot and fire home. After 10 minutes, James doubled the Blues’ lead after nice work from substitutes Ross Barkley and Ruben Loftus-Cheek teed up the wingback to smash past Karl Darlow. The third goal came via a penalty from Jorginho after Kai Havertz was brought down by Darlow.

Here’s how the Chelsea players fared against a struggling Newcastle team:

Edouard Mendy (Goalkeeper): 6.5/10

It seems to be becoming a running theme now: Edouard Mendy having nothing to do in a football match, be it Premier League or Champions League. The Senegalese international again had nothing to do the whole game other than saving a tame effort on goal late in the second half.

Andreas Christensen (Right centerback): 7/10

Andreas Christensen was very active on Saturday, playing mostly with the ball, passing it forward and keeping the game ticking. The Danish international won the most aerial duels in the match (5) and did what he was required to do. Christensen even created a good chance going forward.

Thiago Silva (Centerback): 7/10

The Brazilian veteran played very safely on Saturday, not going forward much. He was the last man on the defense seeing as both Antonio Rudiger and Christensen were playing very far forward. Thiago Silva made two important interceptions and didn’t take too many chances with his three clearances.

Antonio Rudiger (Left centerback): 7/10

Rudiger was solid again on the day, although the German was not tested much defensively. The Magpies were playing almost the entire game in their half, so Rudiger was more involved in passing the ball from side-to-side and occasionally taking test shots from a long way away.