Pat Nevin on what he witnessed as Newcastle United defeated his beloved Chelsea | OneFootball

Pat Nevin is a Chelsea legend.

He mad his name back in the 80s, the stylish winger making just under 200 appearances and scoring 36 goals for the Stamford Bridge club.

Pat Nevin was at St James’ Park on Sunday watching his beloved Chelsea in a work capacity, player turned pundit.

The former blues star hoping to see the team he supports take a massive step towards top five and a place in the Champions League.

Pat Nevin now reflecting on what the actual reality turned out to be in this huge match for both clubs AND their fans.

Pat Nevin talking to BBC Sport about what he witnessed at St James’ Park on Sunday:

“I was exactly where I wanted to be at midday on Sunday, sitting on the halfway line as the Newcastle v Chelsea game kicked off. Too close a game to call before the whistle, it looked anything but that after just a couple of minutes.

“‌Eddie Howe spotted a weakness in the Chelsea line up and the chink in their armour was their player of the year, Moises Caicedo. Enzo Maresca wanted his best players on the field. Romeo Lavia had been brilliant recently and Enzo Fernandez is seen as a leader, so just like last week there wasn’t a midfield spot for Caicedo. No problem, stick him in at right back, he is an excellent player and a tenacious tackler. The problem is, he isn’t a specialist right full-back and Howe knew it, so did Antony Gordon and the rest of his team.

‌”The majority of the early Newcastle attacks pressured that precise area. You might get away with a stand-in full-back sometimes but against a specialist top-class winger, even a single positional error of a couple of yards can be costly and it was.

“It was mostly good luck that Howe’s left-wing overloads didn’t give Newcastle an unassailable lead by half-time. It should have been over as a contest when Nicolas Jackson was correctly red carded in the 34th minute.

‌”Reece James and then Malo Gusto, both specialist right-backs, were brought on in the second half, and Caicedo was back to being brilliant and effective where he belongs in the midfield. With round pegs in round holes, even if there were only 10 of them, Chelsea dominated.

“‌It was too late, those three dropped points may ultimately cost Chelsea a top-five position and many tens of millions of pounds.

It was the quality and work rate from Newcastle, Howe’s good tactics and a brilliantly noisy crowd that contributed to the win. But, the defeat was also in great part due to major mistakes by Jackson and his coach.”

Newcastle 2 Chelsea 0 – Sunday 11 May 12pm

(Stats via BBC Sport)

Goals:

Newcastle United:

Tonali 2, Bruno 90

Chelsea:

Jackson red card 35

Possession was Newcastle 45% Chelsea 55%

Total shots were Newcastle 15 Chelsea 10

Shots on target were Newcastle 6 Chelsea 3

Corners were Newcastle 2 Chelsea 8

Touches in the box Newcastle 39 Chelsea 22

Newcastle United team v Chelsea:

Pope, Botman (Miley 55), Schar, Burn, Livramento, Gordon (Krafth 65), Tonali, Bruno (Longstaff 94), Barnes, Isak (Wilson 94), Murphy

Subs:

Dubravka, Lascelles, Osula, Neave, Ruddy

(Newcastle 2 Chelsea 0 – Match ratings and comments on all Newcastle United players – Read HERE)

(BBC Sport comments from ‘neutrals’ – Interesting on Newcastle United after Chelsea 2-0…Read HERE)