Chelsea 2-1 Newcastle: Willian's strike seals Blues victory

Chelsea strengthened their bid for a top-four finish in the Premier League after Willian's second-half strike handed the Blues a 2-1 win over Newcastle at Stamford Bridge.

Following Arsenal's 1-0 defeat to West Ham earlier in the day, Maurizio Sarri's side had the opportunity to open a six-point gap over the Gunners in fifth and they made the perfect start through Pedro's early strike (9).

Newcastle responded before half-time thanks to Ciaran Clark's powerful header (40) but Willian's curling effort (57) secured Chelsea all three points.

The win sees Chelsea move to within a point of third-placed Tottenham, who face Manchester United on Renault Super Sunday live on Sky Sports, while defeat leaves Newcastle in the relegation zone.

Chelsea were without a goal in their previous two home games in the league, but they put that barren spell in front of goal behind them when Pedro latched onto David Luiz's inch-perfect through ball before lofting the ball over Martin Dubravka and into the back of the net.

It was the perfect start for Chelsea, who continued to dominate possession, but Sarri's side never really pushed on from taking an early lead.

It allowed Newcastle to grow into the game and Ayoze Perez should have done better after latching onto Salomon Rondon's flick-on, but the Spanish forward sliced his shot wide of the upright with only Kepa Arrizabalaga to beat.

Newcastle were finishing the stronger of the two sides and they eventually got their reward, Clark beating Luiz in the air to head Matt Ritchie's corner past Arrizabalaga and into the bottom corner.

Chelsea came close to restoring their advantage immediately from the restart, but with Newcastle's defence sleeping, Willian passed wide following Jorginho's through ball.

Pedro then passed up two chances early in the second half, before Hazard, who had been quiet, burst into life to create Chelsea's second.

The Belgium international drove at the heart of the Newcastle defence before laying the ball off to Willian, who checked inside from the left side of the area to curl the ball beyond the dive of Dubravka and inside the far post.

Willian then had an opportunity to wrap up all three points after latching onto another excellent through ball from Luiz. He lifted the ball over Dubravka but the ball looked to be heading wide before Jamaal Lascelles turned the ball behind.

Despite their slender advantage, Chelsea brought on Callum Hudson-Odoi for Pedro with 10 minutes remaining and soon after a chorus of "we want you to stay" was heard from the home fans, who were soon celebrating a 14th win of the season.

Opta stats

• Chelsea have only lost one of their 12 Premier League matches at Stamford Bridge this season, drawing four whilst winning the other seven.
• Newcastle's total of 18 points from their opening 22 matches is their lowest tally at this stage of a top-flight season since 1988-89 campaign (17 points), with the Magpies going on to be relegated under manager Jim Smith.
• Chelsea (P4 W3 D1 L0) are on their longest unbeaten league run since losing none of their opening 12 league games under manager Maurizio Sarri (P12 W8 D4 L0).
• Newcastle have now lost 10 straight top-flight matches away from home against sides starting the day in the top four, last winning such a match back in November 2010 against Arsenal (P26 W0 D3 L23 since).
• Rafa Benitez has now lost six of his eight away league games against former employers Chelsea in the Premier League (W1 D1), including his two as Newcastle boss.
• Chelsea's Eden Hazard has both scored (10) and assisted (10) at least 10 goals in league games this season - the only other player within the top five European Leagues to have also done so in 2018-19 is Barcelona's Lionel Messi (16 goals, 10 assists).
• Pedro has now scored three goals in his two Premier League starts against Newcastle at Stamford Bridge - against no other side in the competiton has the Spaniard netted more goals for Chelsea (3, level with Bournemouth).
• Of players with at least 10 Premier League goals, only Ugo Ehiogu (84%) and David Wetherall (87%) have scored a higher percentage of their goals via their head than Newcastle's Kieran Clark (83%).

Man of the Match - Willian

The game was firmly in the balance when Willian produced a moment of magic to score his first Premier League goal since October. It was only this third of the season but it could prove to be one of his most important come the end of the campaign.

The 30-year-old has been linked with a January move to Barcelona but ahead of the game against Newcastle Sarri hailed him as an important player for the Blues.

The Brazilian proved his head coach right, producing a stunning curling effort to secure victory as Chelsea tightened their grip on fourth place.

What's next?

Chelsea have the chance to move further clear of Arsenal when they face the Gunners next week (Saturday January 19, 5.30pm) at the Emirates Stadium.

Next up for Newcastle is a trip to Blackburn Rovers on Tuesday for an FA Cup third-round replay (7.45pm) before a return to Premier League action on Saturday at home to Cardiff (3pm).

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