Chelsea vs Newcastle player ratings: Havertz’s goal separates the sides

Jorginho (Defensive midfielder): 8/10

Jorginho was Chelsea’s best midfielder on the day. His ball retention wasn’t impeccable either, but he made five positive defensive actions. The Italian also didn’t win that many of his duels, winning just four out of 11 contested. He did find the pass that ultimately unlocked Newcastle’s stubborn defense though. Jorginho was not having a Man of the Match worthy performance before that point really, but that 89′ pass to Kai Havertz was worth changing his rating considerably.

N’Golo Kante (Central midfielder): 6.5/10

N’Golo Kante was relatively poor by his standards. His ball retention left a lot to be desired, he often held on to the ball too long while dribbling and he spent too much time before distributing the ball. This is represented in the fact that Kante lost the ball more than anyone else on the team (22 times), which for a central midfielder, isn’t good enough. He contested many duels and won the majority of them, barely. He didn’t create nearly enough chances to justify the volume of his possession losses. The good thing is that he had Hakim Ziyech on his side of the pitch to help out.

Mason Mount (Central midfielder): 6/10

Mason Mount was poor on the day. He completed zero crosses and zero long balls, won zero contested duels and created zero chances. He stayed on the pitch longer than he should have, if we’re being honest. The Englishman didn’t have any defensive actions either and his set pieces were relatively poor. He still leads the team in total goals, assists and chances created in the Premier League, but that seems to be more down to opportunity than anything else. At the end of the day, Mount is not a central midfielder, though that cannot be used as an excuse now because many feel his best role would be as an attacking No. 8, which was the position he was deployed in.

Mateo Kovacic (Central midfielder): 7/10

Mateo Kovacic once again injected life into Chelsea’s midfield. The way he broke the press and drove past players as soon as he came on was a joy to watch. Kovacic boasted a higher passing accuracy than any other midfielder in the team against Newcastle, although he did only play 27 minutes.