The biggest Premier League game of the season – Keep going lads, we’re nearly there | OneFootball

There is no doubt this has been the best season of my life.

The only thing that could have taken the shine off the League Cup win would have been relegation, so I’d have accepted a mid-table finish.

To complement the trophy with qualification to a higher level of Europe through the league, is hands down stuff.

So, definitely the best season ever, but why has it felt like such an endless anxiety attack?

The early part of the season was peppered with mixed results, with said aforementioned Carabao Cup the hope for salvation. Since the turn of the year (and United’s form) it has felt like there’s always a lingering worry.

First leg at Arsenal delivers a memorable win, but four panic stricken weeks intervened where we feared messing it up in the home tie. After that was safely navigated, the yawning eternity between then and the final ratcheted up the tension.

Post-Wembley, a fine run of form has seen us settle into a Champions League slot that seems constantly under threat from a posse of enemies that just won’t back off.

All of this led up to today’s high-noon shoot out.

Incredible that after 35 rounds of fixtures, we were only separated from Chelsea on goals scored. This felt infuriating, as our beautifully assembled, PSR-busting squad of compatible, spirited club legends in the making, are on a completely different path to Chelsea’s mish mash of mercenaries, funded to an obnoxious extent by some curious accounting practices. Allowing them into the Champions League would give further wiggle room for another round of mind-boggling transfers.

Regardless then of any attempts to moderate the magnitude of this match, it’s difficult to dispute that this was the biggest league game of the season. A win puts one foot in Europe’s elite. Defeat would see an ominous trip to Arsenal threatening to plunge us deeply into the Europa League spots.

The team sheet arriving filled me with a sense of hope. The absence of Sven Botman over the best part of two seasons has been on ongoing blow, so to see him back in a starting berth was encouraging from the perspective of his welcome injection of pace at the back, as well as freeing up one of the central halves to step out and shut down Cole Palmer, Chelsea’s only real quality player despite their ridiculous profligacy.

In order to counter the sleepiness of an early kick off, NUFC had offered a free pint to anyone heading in on time. Wor Flags had offered the concept of a black and white ground, encouraging all to wear their colours, and God had offered up some magnificent sunshine. The place was rocking in slightly tipsy, sun drenched black and white and it was a sight to behold. Despite the awful kick off time, the place was jumping, and it brought immediate dividends.

After Chelsea had wasted the first couple of minutes with the sort of scruffy mess of a corner that was to be their trademark, United were far more clinical with their first attack.

Gordon went steaming forward on the left, where the out of position Caicedo was to suffer a mismatch against the recalled Scouser. The overpriced Ecuadorian panicked and brought Gordon down and while the ref wasn’t having it, thoughts turned to the verdict that the VAR might have. This was never to be though, as Tonali quickly hurried possession back and found Bruno, who pinged it wide to Murphy. He produced one of these outstanding crosses he keeps pulling out and Tonali was there to scuff it in at the back post. What a settler after two minutes.

United’s wing-back formation was working wonders, with Livramento and Murphy both excellent going forward and strong when called on to defend. With Barnes and Gordon in front of them it felt like every attack had some promise about it, with the only missing link being a seemingly off the pace Isak, who struggled to influence this game as he had in the same fixture in the Carabao Cup earlier in the season.

However, it was to be the opposition centre forward who would grab the headlines, and not the good kind. As Chelsea resorted to long blooters forward in an attempt to get back into the game, one such up and under from Sanchez saw Nicolas Jackson go in elbow first on Botman. The ref brought out the yellow, but the VAR had other (more accurate) ideas and a red card came out, that was brilliant in the context both of this match and the remainder of the season, which Chelsea must now navigate without a recognised centre forward.

The fact the visitors played (yawn) Cole Palmer as a (cringe) false nine gives you two ingredients for the most boring, tedious football analysis from the worst kind of peckers in the world as the dullards favourite played a non-position that, to be fair, saw Chelsea work their way back into things in the second half. Nick Pope proved once again that his return to the side is crucial to the current success with fine saves from Cucurella and Fernandez as United started to look a bit shaky, the withdrawal of Botman for Lewis Miley suggested a more ambitious formation but it seemed to throw us right off.

With anxiety setting in and Reece James missing with a header, it was starting to feel like full time was an urgent requirement. There was better to come though, as Tonali’s last minute free-kick found Burn out wide. He fed Bruno, who took a touch and shot, with a helpful deflection looping it over Sanchez and in. So 2-0 and game settled, but this goal could be ever so useful as it pushed the goal difference between ourselves and the Blues to +4, having been equal at the start of play. This could yet be a factor in this tightest of races.

With Leicester stifling Nottingham Forest to a point after our game, this has to go down as magnificent progress towards a CL place. It’s a reasonable target to reel in Arsenal, but the upshot of today should be that we’ll come into the final day against Everton knowing that a very attainable win will guarantee us Champions League, or with it secured and the match with the Toffees one of a celebratory nature.

This is an utterly magnificent prospect after two years without a first team addition and the absolute catalyst for the future growth of the club. There’s still work to do but today was critical in ensuring we are well placed for exciting times ahead. The credit due to the manager and everyone involved in this seismic season cannot be understated, this is a hell of an achievement.

Keep going lads, we’re nearly there.

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

The remaining Newcastle United match schedule:

Sunday 18 May – Arsenal v Newcastle (4.30pm) Sky Sports

Sunday 25 May – Newcastle v Everton (4pm)

You can follow the author on BlueSky @bigjimwinsalot.bsky.social

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