Newcastle United needed to defend resolutely during their clash with Chelsea on Sunday as they took a major step towards Champions League qualification.
While Newcastle United took the lead against the Blues through Sandro Tonali’s early strike, Eddie Howe’s side were under pressure for most of the second-half until Bruno Guimaraes added to their tally just before stoppage time.
They certainly weren’t at their best but did still manage to limit Chelsea to only a few reasonably clear-cut chances. Howe switched the system, too, playing Sven Botman alongside Fabian Schar and Dan Burn in central defence, meaning Tino Livramento and Jacob Murphy were operating as something approaching wing-backs.
Livramento put in another very strong defensive showing, impressing Bayern Munich and Germany star Jamal Musiala on social media.
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Jamal Musiala reacts to Tino Livramento’s performance against Chelsea
The 22-year-old has been excellent on both defensive flanks over the course of his Newcastle career.
Livramento marked Mohamed Salah out of the game in the Carabao Cup final and continues to impress against some of the Premier League’s most feared forwards.
Pedro Neto did not have much joy up against him on Sunday and Musiala – who played with Livramento in the Chelsea academy – appeared to have been impressed.
The Newcastle defender posted a collage of images after the game, to which Musiala responded with two fire emojis.
Tino Livramento’s stats for Newcastle United vs Chelsea
It was another brilliant display from the former Southampton defender. While it should be said that Chelsea did go down to ten men in the first half, they still had a lot of the ball after the break as Newcastle sat back.
| Minutes played | Touches | Tackles | Clearances | Key Passes | Dribbles |
| 90 | 55 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 1 |
As per WhoScored data, Livramento won two tackles and made three clearances. Offensively, he contributed with three key passes, one dribble and three successful long balls.
No matter the position or the winger he’s up against, Livramento keeps stepping up. At only 22, the future is very exciting with him in the team.
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