Newcastle United’s winless run continued with a 2-1 defeat to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
Newcastle United have now gone the entirety of October without picking up a win in the Premier League, with their last victory coming against Wolves in September.
The Magpies battled hard in London but were made to pay for their slow start to the second half.
Nicolas Jackson opened the scoring for the hosts but Alexander Isak drew Newcastle level just after the half-hour mark after tapping in from Lewis Hall‘s cross.
Newcastle entered the break level, but less than two minutes into the second half, Cole Palmer restored Chelsea’s lead with a curling strike which Nick Pope should have done better with.
Harvey Barnes struggled to replace Anthony Gordon
Newcastle’s lineup sent shockwaves through the fanbase with Anthony Gordon completely missing from the squad due to a groin injury.
Just days after Gordon’s new contract was announced, Newcastle’s attacking talisman was absent and he was sorely missed.
Harvey Barnes finally got his shot in the starting lineup on his favoured left side, but Newcastle’s top scorer this season struggled to make an impact from the left and was eventually replaced by Joe Willock just after an hour.
Lewis Hall proved he is ready
Lewis Hall has made the left-back spot his own this season.
There have been a few question marks around his defensive ability, but he responded to his critics emphatically with a superb display against his former side on Sunday afternoon.
Hall was a standout player for Newcastle and can hold his head high, especially after keeping Newcastle target Noni Madueke quiet throughout the afternoon.
European hopes now hanging by a thread
We are now a quarter of the way through the Premier League season and Newcastle are only 12th in the Premier League table.
It has been a hugely underwhelming start to the season and while there is still plenty of football left to play, Newcastle are getting further and further out of reach from the European spots.
Eddie Howe is expected to qualify for Europe this season and it could also decide whether or not the club’s biggest players stay put in the summer.
The pressure will start to ramp up, and quickly.
Centre-back is still an issue
The noise coming out of St James’ Park is that Newcastle may shelve plans to sign a centre-back in order to focus on a new right winger.
The truth is – Newcastle need both. Badly.
The centre-back duo of Dan Burn and Fabian Schar were repeatedly exposed against Chelsea. They were both far too eager to jump into tackles or push up without having the pace to recover.
Newcastle cannot afford to simply give up on signing a top-class centre-back.
A mixed performance from Alexander Isak
Alexander Isak was back among the goals after tapping in Hall’s cross in the first half, and he led the line well for Newcastle.
However, he still overcomplicated a few chances after the break which could have rescued some points for Newcastle.
READ MORE: Graeme Souness makes claim ‘Newcastle fans won’t want to hear’ about Alexander Isak
Especially in the second half, Isak wasted a huge chance after taking the ball around Robert Sanchez. His reaction to wasting that chance was poor and he also gave the ball away for Chelsea’s winner.
There were plenty of pros and cons to Isak’s performance.
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