Chelsea 1 Newcastle 1 (Chelsea win 4-2 on penalties) – Late late heartbreak

Chelsea 1 Newcastle 1 (Chelsea win 4-2 on penalties) – Tuesday 19 December 8pm

The absence of attacking options on United’s bench looked problematic… until Badiashile kicked the ball against his standing leg and Callum Wilson accepted the early Christmas present with aplomb.

Jarred Gillett amazed anyone who has ever watched him officiate when he booked Caicedo after two minutes for a disgusting hack at Anthony Gordon’s achilles. VAR would presumably have upgraded it to a red.

The referee soon reverted to type, allowing the cheating hosts to foul and foul again. Somebody should tell him this is not allowed, even in Aussie Rules football.

A late tackle on Krafth by Colwill in stoppage time was adjudged fair by the incompetent Gillett, while the merest touch by United players led to a series of Chelsea free-kicks. At least the referee was not fooled by Sterling throwing himself at Lascelles in search of a penalty.

Chelsea huffed and puffed in the first half and a Gallagher 20-yarder that hit the bar and a Guimaraes close-range block were the nearest they came to scoring before the interval.

Kieran Trippier and Dan Burn replaced Krafth and Botman at the break. Gordon was also limping, no doubt thanks to Caicedo’s thuggery. Five minutes into the second half, he was replaced by Matt Ritchie after Caicedo sportingly kicked the ball out.

Dubravka made an excellent save low to his right from Sterling as Chelsea pressed.

The game became attack against defence, with United unable to retain possession, but our players never stopped chasing. Nkunku made his belated debut, replacing the woeful Jackson on 68 minutes. Whilst Sterling was finally booked for simulation three minutes later.

Wilson was being starved of the ball as Almiron sat deeper and Gordon was missed. On 77 minutes Chelsea brought on two more subs but still we stood firm.

With two minutes of stoppage time remaining, Trippier made a terrible attempt to deal with a hopeful cross and gifted a simple chance to Mudryk, who inevitably equalised. A moronic Chelsea fan jumped onto the pitch and barged into Dubravka.

There was still time for Guimaraes to be booked after he had been hacked down by Gallagher and decided to exact revenge.

Penalties followed.

Lascelles won the toss to take penalties at our end, which was as good as it got.

Chelsea won the toss to go first. Palmer scored, Wilson scored, Gallagher scored, Trippier missed and we were down. Nkunku scored, Guimaraes scored, Mudryk scored, Ritchie’s penalty was saved and we were out.

Stats via BBC Sport:

Chelsea 1 Newcastle 1 (Chelsea win 4-2 on penalties) – Tuesday 19 December 8pm

Goals:

Newcastle United:

Wilson 16

Penalties: Wilson scores, Trippier wide, Bruno scores, Ritchie saved

Chelsea:

Mudryk 90+2

Penalties: Palmer scores, Gallagher scores, Nkunku scores, Mudryk scores

Possession was Chelsea 78% Newcastle 22%

Total shots were Chelsea 15 Newcastle 4

Shots on target were Chelsea 4 Newcastle 2

Corners were Chelsea 7 Newcastle 1

Referee: Jarred Gillett

Attendance: 38,058 (4,300 Newcastle)

Newcastle team v Chelsea:

Dubravka, Krafth (Trippier 45), Lascelles, Botman (Burn 45), Livramento, Bruno, Longstaff, Lewis Miley, Almiron, Gordon (Ritchie 52), Wilson

Unused subs:

Karius, Gillespie, Dummett, Hall, Alex Murphy

Confirmed Newcastle United matches to end of January 2024:

Saturday 23 December 2023 – Luton v Newcastle (3pm)

Tuesday 26 December 2023 – Newcastle v Forest (12.30pm) Amazon

Monday 1 January 2024 – Liverpool v Newcastle (8pm) Sky Sports

Saturday 6 January 2024 – Sunderland v Newcastle (12.45pm) ITV

Saturday 13 January 2024 – Newcastle v Man City (5.30pm) TNT Sports

Tuesday 30 January 2024 – Aston Villa v Newcastle (8.15pm) TNT Sports