Newsletter

Get your daily update and weekly newsletter by signing up today!

Match Reports

Shameful – VAR and Chelsea cheat Newcastle United out of making it 10 in a row

2 years ago
Share

Chelsea 1 Newcastle 0 – Sunday 13 March 2pm

I think we learnt a lot today.

The scoreline says Newcastle United lost BUT for me, this was a really uplifting game in so many ways.

Newcastle United were the better team and deserved to win.

Wilson, Trippier, Fernandez, Joelinton, Willock, Shelvey and I’m assuming, Saint-Maximin, were all unable to be named in the starting eleven and yet NUFC were the moral victors away against the team who are third in the Premier League and won the Champions League last season.

If Uriah Rennie (ask your dad) and Trelford Mills (ask your grandad) had been referee and VAR official then Newcastle United would have won this match, that is how bad the officials were today.

Honestly, how do David Coote and Jon Brooks explain this one away today?

That is the problem though, they won’t and don’t have to.

It is incredible that in this age of full-time highly paid referees, there is even less (zero?) accountability for match officials.

Kai Havertz cowardly led with his elbow and smashed it into the face of Dan Burn, a red if ever you saw one.

Coote gave a yellow and as for Brooks…nothing.

Jacob Murphy dribbles into the box from the left hand side and from behind Trevoh Chalobah (see above) pulls Murphy back by his shirt AND trips him up, making zero contact with the ball.

A clear and obvious penalty and possible red card. Coote and Brooks give neither.

What is the / their explanation?

The on the pitch referee was embarrassing but honestly, when your only job as the VAR official is to look at slow motion reruns of contentious decisions, how do you not give this penalty? As well as possibly a red card.

It was cruelty beyond belief when after those two first half shameful non-decisions, that it would be then Havertz himself who would win it for Chelsea. Well, win it thanks to his colleagues Coote and Brooks, who had failed to red card him.

Newcastle United’s defending had been exceptional, expertly organised by Eddie Howe.

Havertz getting away from his markers twice in the final stages, with firstly Jamaal Lascelles lucky to see the Chelsea striker head straight at Martin Dubravka. Not so fortunate Dan Burn, who had been magnificent, again.

With a minute to go the Geordie defender was caught out by a great ball over the top from Jorginho, the skill from Havertz was extraordinary, showing the same level of precision as when his elbow smashed into Burn’s jaw. Controlled with one touch and before Dubravka could even react, the Chelsea player put the winner past him.

So so cruel.

A first Premier League defeat in 12 weeks for Eddie Howe and his players and arguably this had been the best performance in that time, considering the quality of the opposition, away from home, the players Howe had unavailable, restricting Chelsea to no clear chances until the very end, as well as NUFC having a real threat of their own.

Newcastle United had only 27% possession but that is very deceptive. Eddie Howe was brave as he had his team pushed right up on Chelsea, leading to numerous occasions where NUFC players forced the home side into gifting possession away and Newcastle having dangerous situations. They didn’t always make the best decisions when winning possession but at the same time, the visitors had the better chances. Burn heading wide in the first half, Almiron’s precise volley beaten away, Schar blazing over. This is all on top of the clear penalty that should have been given, as well as Havertz incredibly getting away without a red card.

Another big lesson learnt today, on top of this very painful reminder of how the self-appointed elite invariably get the decisions (there is no way Chelsea wouldn’t have got that penalty decision and the same with the non-red card), is that when shameful decisions like this go against you, it is a lot easier to take when you aren’t in the relegation zone.

Yes, I was absolutely raging when Newcastle didn’t get these decisions BUT if we had still been in the bottom three and not ten points clear going into today’s match, it would have been unbearable.

So, no ten games unbeaten, as VAR and Chelsea combine to cheat Eddie Howe and the team / club out of what would have been a very deserved extension of that run without defeat.

Anyway, time to move on and help send Everton on their way to the Championship, roll on Thursday.

Stats from BBC Sport:

Chelsea 1 Newcastle 0 – Sunday 13 March 2pm

(Half-time stats in brackets)

Goals:

Chelsea:

Havertz 89

Newcastle:

Possession was Chelsea 73% (70%) Newcastle 27% (30%)

Total shots were Chelsea 8 (5) Newcastle 7 (4)

Shots on target were Chelsea 3 (0) Newcastle 2 (1)

Corners were Chelsea 7 (6) Newcastle 2 (1)

Referee: David Coote

Crowd: 40,026 (3,000 Newcastle)

Newcastle United:

Dubravka, Manquillo (Gayle 90+1), Schar, Lascelles, Burn, Targett, Guimaraes, Longstaff, Almiron (Saint-Maximin 69), Murphy (Fraser 90+1), Wood

Unused Subs:

Darlow, Gillespie, Krafth, Dummett, De Bolle, Ritchie

(3 Positives and 3 Negatives from Chelsea 1 Newcastle 0 – Read HERE)

(Chelsea 1 Newcastle 0 – Instant NUFC fan / writer reaction to Sunday’s defeat – Read HERE)

Share

If you would like to feature on The Mag, submit your article to contribute@themag.co.uk

Have your say

© 2024 The Mag. All Rights Reserved. Design & Build by Mediaworks