‘What’s wrong with Newcastle?’… Frank Leboeuf claims Eddie Howe got lucky vs Chelsea

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Newcastle United took a major step towards securing Champions League qualification by beating Chelsea on Sunday.  

Eddie Howe’s side moved up to third in the Premier League and just one win away from sealing a return to the Champions League with a 2-0 victory over Chelsea at St James’ Park. 

It certainly wasn’t a vintage display from Newcastle United but, at this stage of the season, getting over the line is all that matters. 

Sandro Tonali opened the scoring in the opening two minutes before Bruno Guimaraes struck late to put the game out of reach for the Blues. Up until the Brazilian’s goal, however, Chelsea had threatened to come back into the game.

Former Blues defender Frank Leboeuf even thinks they deserved to take something from St James’. 

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Frank Leboeuf slams Newcastle United performance vs Chelsea  

The Frenchman, who won the World Cup with France back in 1998, believes Chelsea were unlucky not to at least draw the game.

In fact, he said elements of Newcastle’s performance between the two goals worried him.

Speaking to ESPN, Leboeuf said: “Chelsea, even 10vs11 [players] were better than Newcastle.”

He added: “I was worried. I said ‘what’s wrong with Newcastle?’ Physically, they went down, they couldn’t react, and I think overall, they didn’t deserve to win.”

Newcastle United’s unsung hero vs Chelsea

It’s true that the Blues did create at least two good chances in the second-half that meant Nick Pope made two brilliant saves against Chelsea, though it’s hard to suggest they should have taken anything. 

Without the goalkeeper, it’s clear that things could have been very different.

However, Newcastle dominated most of the first-half and largely kept Cole Palmer at bay. Howe’s side limited them to only three shots on target all game, although it should be noted that the visitors had lost Nicolas Jackson to a red card.  

Chelsea had more of the ball but, for most of the game, did little with it.

To suggest they should have taken anything from the clash feels a little strange. Newcastle weren’t brilliant but did just about enough.

The onus was on Chelsea to come to St James’ and win. They could not manage that.