Newcastle finished fourth after producing one of the close football results of the weekend in the Premier League. Nine minutes into the game, an unmarked Anthony Gordon scored his first goal for the club from close range to give the visitors—who had just confirmed their return to the Champions League for the first time in 20 years—a decisive advantage. An own goal by Kieran Trippier (27) gave the home crowd something to cheer about, but despite a number of off-target shots in the second half and a wonderful opportunity for Christian Pulisic in the dying seconds, Chelsea was unable to end a miserable year with a victory.
With 38 goals in 38 games, Chelsea’s season ends in 12th position with their lowest-ever Premier League point total of 44 thanks to the draw. With just one victory in 11 games, Frank Lampard’s temporary reign comes to an end. Lewis Miley nearly had a fairytale debut for Newcastle, but it could have been worse. The 17-year-old from Gateshead, who made their team’s youngest-ever Premier League appearance, went off the bench and fired a shot that hit the top of the crossbar. The Newcastle supporters gave him a warm welcome and continued to cheer long after the final buzzer sounded.
Chelsea conceded four goals on Thursday at Old Trafford, and they were again exposed here. Kepa Arrizabalaga had to make a save from Alexander Isak with only two minutes remaining before Gordon took advantage of some lax marking to score the game’s opening goal. Elliot Anderson’s low cross found Gordon fully free to convert the easiest of finishes after Cesar Azpilicueta and Trevoh Chalobah failed to stop Allan Saint-Maximin from defending.
Soon after, Newcastle had a second opportunity to score when a Miguel Almiron shot was stopped and an Isak attempt missed the target. Then, the visitors were exposed and required Trippier to save a Thiago Silva header and Anderson to block Noni Madueke’s attempts twice. Enzo Fernandez’s lightning-quick free kick caught Newcastle off guard shortly before the half-hour mark, allowing Raheem Sterling to enter the right channel. Trippier stopped his low shot toward the goal, but his clearing rebounded off his own arm and went in.
The home team didn’t really record a shot on target until the 43rd minute, by which time Almiron had missed two more decent opportunities, putting one effort wide and another towards Kepa, with his recent goal-scoring record of just one in his previous 11 games showing in his finishing. On the verge of halftime, though, Chelsea once more made Newcastle scramble, forcing Matt Targett to clear Sterling’s effort off the goal line after backup custodian Martin Dubravka swiftly reacted to save Sven Botman from scoring another own goal. At halftime, Lampard made a change to remedy Chelsea’s defensive troubles, switching Chalobah for Wesley Fofana. As a result, the home team played most of the second half in the visitors’ half. But their season has been plagued by a lackluster end.
Although the greatest two moments occurred in stoppage time, when Pulisic fired straight at Dubravka after Sterling set him up, and Felix headed over with almost the last phase of play, Madueke, Sterling, Lewis Hall, and substitute Joao Felix all missed opportunities to take advantage of fantastic situations. Dan Burn had a VAR check for handball earlier in the half, but it was determined that his arm was not out of place when it diverted Sterling’s effort beyond. However, with Miley hitting the crossbar, the visitors could also feel that they should have earned all three points. However, even without the victory, the Newcastle fans’ jubilation was lengthy and boisterous, a credit to Eddie Howe’s outstanding campaign.
“Prior to the appointment, I don’t want to be late. I consider Pochettino to be a very excellent manager and am a great fan of his,” Chelsea boss Frank Lampard said. “But finding the correct top-level manager is more important than any one person. Pochettino has a history of working at teams of this caliber, and when given the freedom to work with the players, he develops a strong identity in a squad that is capable of winning more games. We need to be a little bit cautious when setting expectations since such things don’t always happen right away.”
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