If the world needed reminders that Cole Palmer can make the difference, this game provided further evidence. A tight contest was decided by the Chelsea player’s brilliance much to Newcastle ’s frustration, with Palmer scoring the winner having already supplied a mouth-watering pass in the build-up to the home side’s opening goal. Gianfranco Zola, watching on from the stands, will have thrilled at his performance.
Advertisement Palmer had actually been denied a fourth-minute opener with VAR deeming the midfielder marginally offside as he finished off the post, though the visitors’ respite was short-lived. The England international’s wonderful pass shortly afterwards sent Pedro Neto skipping away down the left, with Nicolas Jackson outpacing Newcastle’s backtracking defenders to convert the low centre. Alexander Isak equalised after a fine team move involving Tino Livramento and Lewis Hall , both graduates of Chelsea’s Cobham academy.
But, after a competitive first half, Palmer restored the home side’s lead immediately after the interval with his seventh Premier League goal of the campaign, dispatched beyond Nick Pope at the goalkeeper’s near post. Neto headed against the woodwork, Pope saved from Mykhailo Mudryk and the late award of a penalty for a foul on Christopher Nkunku was overturned after a lengthy VAR check. Yet Chelsea’s fragility at the back had still offered the visitors a chance of recovery.
Reece James blocked an Isak header on the line, with .