Chelsea narrowly won thanks to an own goal

Goal:Joselu 83'-Hazard (penalty) 76', Yedlin (own goal) 87'

The match between Newcastle and Chelsea only really became interesting in the last 15 minutes of the match, when both teams took turns scoring. The London team showed the mettle of a championship candidate when they knew how to punish the opponent's mistakes and won the match.

With nine points after three matches, Chelsea is in second place, behind Liverpool due to a poor goal difference. Maurizio Sarri's team is also putting a lot of pressure on both Man Utd and Tottenham, who will meet in the late match of round three, taking place tomorrow night, August 27.

After keeping the same lineup in the first two rounds and winning all six points, Maurizio Sarri decided to experiment when visiting Newcastle. Except for the return of number one star Eden Hazard on the left flank instead of Willian, Mateo Kovacic started for the first time, alongside N'Golo Kante and Jorginho. The Croatian midfielder is expected to complete Chelsea's midfield trio, helping Jorginho "distribute the cards" better, and combine with Hazard to form a dangerous drill on the left flank.

But the Magpies are no pushovers. Newcastle have won four of their last five Premier League meetings at St James' Park, and pragmatist Rafael Benitez knows how to make life difficult for his opponents. With a 5-4-1 formation, with nine players stationed in the third of the pitch towards their own goal, the north-eastern side have virtually sealed off all access to the penalty area.

Chelsea's dangerous situations all came from individual efforts, in which Hazard was the highlight. Although the match against Newcastle was his first start this season, the Belgian captain still showed sophistication in every touch.

In the 25th minute, the former Lille player entered the penalty area and quickly placed the ball, leaving the Newcastle goalkeeper rooted to the spot. About 10 minutes later, the 27-year-old star fought his way through the black and white striped shirt, before releasing Pedro to place a powerful shot into the far corner, forcingDubravka struggled to block.

Hazard was excellent but not enough for Chelsea to penetrate Newcastle's defense for an hour, although the 2014-2015 Premier League Player of the Year tried to move wide.

Another expected name of Chelsea, Jorginho almost had no chance to play on the night of August 26 because the opponent's defense was too deep. The Italian midfielder's strengths such as the ability to escape pressing, pass long and launch attacks were not shown once.

Newcastle were more disciplined than Huddersfield and certainly more solid than Arsenal, who had been defeated by Chelsea. They even made the former Premier League champions sweat a couple of times with high balls or corners.

Sarri returned to the weapon that defeated Arsenal, the wing attacks, by bringing Oliver Giroud and Willian onto the field. However, the name that made the difference was a defender. In the 76th minute, Marcos Alonso entered the penalty area, causingFabian Schar fumbled an illegal tackle. The referee pointed to the penalty spot, and Hazard made no mistake with a decisive shot into the top corner.

On the coaching bench, Benitez shook his head in dismay, but on the pitch, the Spanish coach's students were still full of fighting spirit and scored an equalizer after only seven minutes. Starting from a long kick by the goalkeeper,DeAndre Yedlin collided with Giroud, but the referee did not blow the whistle. The American's cross from the right then put substitute Joselu in an easy position to head home from close range.

It seemed that Yedlin and Newcastle would have a happy ending on the evening of August 26, but everything changed quickly after only four minutes. The former Tottenham player, in an attempt to block Marcos Alonso's shot, sent the ball into his own net. He held his head and collapsed on the ground, just like his Newcastle team, who are sinking at the bottom of the table after losing to Chelsea.

Line-up

Newcastle: Dubravka, Fernandez, Clark, Schar (Muto 79'), Dummett, Yedlin, Sung-Yeung, Diame, Ritchie, Murphy (Perez 73'), Rondon (Joselu 62').

Chelsea: Kepa, Luiz, Azpilicueta, Alonso, Rudiger, Kovacic (Barkley 79'), Jorginho, Kante, Hazard, Pedro (Willian 69'), Morata (Giroud 65').