Cole Palmer passes England audition as Chelsea edge Newcastle in five-goal thriller | OneFootball

Chelsea returned to successful ways in the Premier League with a 3-2 win over Newcastle this evening.

Mauricio Pochettino’s side came into this latest outing on a two-game winless run, having lost their last home fixture.

Cole Palmer, a summer signing and undoubted player of the season, was the difference-maker. He assisted Nicolas Jackson’s opener before netting in front of England boss Gareth Southgate.

Mykhailo Mudryk ensured all three points would stay in West London when he burst into Newcastle’s penalty area to score his fourth of the campaign.

Alexander Isak had equalised for the visitors, while Jacob Murphy struck at the death, but they must settle for back-to-back losses in the nation’s capital.

Chelsea

Djordje Petrovic – 5.5 – Will be frustrated not to have kept a clean sheet.

Marc Cucurella – 6 – This was a rare start for the Spanish full-back, who recently returned from a serious ankle injury. He made up for lost time.

Trevoh Chalobah – 6.5 – Put together a commendable performance that saw him end up as Chelsea’s third-most-frequent ball passer.

Axel Disasi – 6 – A composed performance at the heart of Chelsea’s defence: 100% in tackles (4/4) and nearly the same regarding duels (5/7) won.

Malo Gusto – 7 – In Reece James’s absence, he’s making Chelsea’s right-back spot his own. Gusto enjoyed a fascinating battle with Gordon, which he often won.

Moisés Caicedo – 6 – It looked like a more subdued performance. Caicedo eased into a retaining and recycling role before picking up his eighth yellow card of the season.

Enzo Fernández  – 7 – You will never be shortchanged by the combative Fernández, who completed the most accurate passes (67) and claimed 6/11 successful duels.

Raheem Sterling – 5 – The first name in John Brooks’ book after callously bringing Livramento down. He had the opportunity to put the game out of sight but fluffed his lines.

Conor Gallagher – 6.5 – This was another strong performance from Chelsea’s distance runner, who avoided receiving another booking.

Cole Palmer – 9 – Easily his side’s most important player. A weak shot from him ended up in goal via Jackson’s scruffy flick. Consequently, he has 19 Premier League goal involvements for Chelsea this season (11 goals, eight assists), with only five players registering more combined goals and assists in their debut campaign for the Blues. He’s also scored and assisted in five Premier League games this season, more than any other player.

Nicolas Jackson – 7 – A clever flick put the hosts in front. A potential second before the break was ruled out for offside.

Substitutes:

Mykhailo Mudryk (for Sterling 71) – 6.5 – Came on and did what Sterling couldn’t. The much-maligned forward silenced his critics, at least for tonight.

Cesare Casadei (for Palmer 86) – N/A – A late sub.

Carney Chukwuemeka (for Jackson 90+1) – N/A – A late sub.

Newcastle

Martin Dúbravka – 5 – Not much he could have done for Chelsea’s opener as Jackson’s flick caught him out.

Dan Burn – 4.5 – He endured a difficult evening with Palmer and Gusto regularly operating in his area of the pitch.

Sven Botman – 5 – His poor clearance ultimately saw the ball end up in Newcastle’s goal. He had a heart-in-mouth moment before half-time when he nearly kept Jackson onside.

Fabian Schär – 7 – No one won possession in this game on more occasions (11) than Schär, who enjoyed a solid outing.

Tino Livramento – 6.5 – The more proactive of Newcastle’s full-backs. Livramento gave a good account of himself, considering Sterling was prowling down his flank.

Joe Willock – 6 – Willock led the visitors by example. He wasn’t outstanding in a single metric but put together an overall rounded performance that his manager should be proud of.

Bruno Guimarães – 6 – It was another steely game for the midfielder, who always put in a shift when Newcastle wasn’t in possession.

Sean Longstaff – 7 – Covered a lot of ground while engaging in a captivating midfield duel with Caicedo.

Anthony Gordon – 4.5 – A lot was placed on him as Newcastle’s likeliest game-winner, but the would-be England international came off injured ten minutes before half-time.

Alexander Isak – 6.5 – He was having a quiet game before unleashing a superbly bent effort from the edge of Chelsea’s penalty area into the bottom right corner, leaving Petrovic with no chance. Each of Isak’s last eight Premier League goals has either drawn Newcastle level (4) or put them one goal in the lead (4).

Miguel Almirón – 5 – Made several runs into the opposition’s half but didn’t have that singular moment of genius to alter the scoresheet.

Substitutes:

Elliot Anderson (for Almiron 69) – N/A – A late sub.

Emil Krafth (for Burn 69) – N/A – A late sub.