Chelsea defeated Newcastle at Stamford Bridge 3-2. Nico Jackson broke the deadlock early on but Alexander Isak equalised for the visitors a few minutes before half-time.
The Blues improved after the break and were rewarded with a Cole Palmer strike in the 57th minute. Substitute Misha Mudryk scored a beautiful individual goal in the 76th minute. Jacob Murphy netted in the 90th minute but Chelsea held on to a win. Here is how we rated the players...
Palmer: 10/10. Provided an assist for Jackson's opening goal, even if he didn't really mean it. Was Chelsea's main creative outlet, always trying to invent something. Scored a beautiful goal to put Chelsea ahead in the second half. Poch needs to find a way to clone him. A round of applause for Cole, it was a perfect performance.
Jackson: 9. Very smart little flick to help Palmer's effort get into the net. Was on fire throughout the game, keeping defenders on their toes. Won the ball leading to Mudryk's goal. Very dangerous on the counter.
Mudryk: 8. Sealed the win for Chelsea with a lovely goal, showing Sterling how it's done.
Gusto: 8. Drove forward at first opportunity, creating danger on the right-hand side all the time. All that without neglecting his defensive responsibilities, kept Gordon and Almiron in his pocket. Another top-notch performance by the Frenchman.
Gallagher: 6.5. Put in a lot of effort as he always does but wasn't particularly effective up front.
Enzo: 6. Started really well but dropped off and was physically bullied by Willock and Longstaff. Improved as Chelsea got better in the second half and helped the team keep possession.
Cucurella: 5. Made his first appearance in three months after recovering from a shoulder injury and put in a typical Cucurella performance. Did brilliantly one-on-one against Almiron and Livramento but lost the ball way too often. Ran like crazy to win the ball back, leaving a lot of space behind him. Completely switched off in the 90th minute, letting Murphy get the better of him to score Newcastle's second goal.
Disasi: 4. Poor defending for Newcastle's equaliser, first he gave the ball away with a poor touch and then failed to come tight to Isak, letting him take a shot.
Sterling: 2. Floated around the pitch, rarely getting involved. And when he did, it was disastrous. Wasted a good chance late in the first half, flopped another at the hour's mark when he went for a goal instead of giving the ball to Palmer.
Others: Petrovic, Caicedo 6; Chalobah 5; Casadei, Chukwuemeka N/A
