Newcastle 2 Chelsea 0 – Howe cracks the code as Maresca’s changes fall flat
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5882343/2024/10/30/newcastle-Chelsea-carabao-cup-briefing/
Newcastle United reached the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup after an impressive 2-0 victory over Chelsea.
It was a hugely valuable victory for Eddie Howe’s side after a five-game winless run in the Premier League sees them sit 12th in the table.
A 23rd-minute goal from Alexander Isak put the hosts ahead and they doubled their lead three minutes later when Axel Disasi put the ball in his own net. The result means Newcastle have reached the last eight of the competition for the third successive season.
Chelsea, meanwhile, return back to London well beaten after manager Enzo Maresca’s changed line-up failed to deliver.
Here, our writers analyse the key talking points from the match.
The welcome return of Newcastle’s beautiful chaos
This, as they say, was much more like it. This was like a family reunion or the belated return of an old friend.
Newcastle were angry again, feisty again, swarming again. They were aggressive and remorseless, pressing high and sowing panic around them. It was gorgeous, gory intensity.
That might sound like a funny definition of family, but this was the identity that Howe infused into his team and which supporters fell in love with.
This is what had been missing after a long summer of uncertainty and another poor transfer window, leaving dented confidence and heavy legs. Not quite at it, not quite right.
Here, the balance was much better. Newcastle did not see much of the ball, but they hoarded impetus, forcing Chelsea into errors deep in their own territory.
The first goal was a brutalist masterpiece, Chelsea playing out and Newcastle playing rough, Joelinton putting Renato Veiga under intolerable pressure, Sandro Tonali sliding in and the ball breaking for Isak to score.
Newcastle’s players celebrate Isak’s goal (Harriet Massey/Newcastle United via Getty Images)
The second was opportunistic, Lewis Hall taking a quick free kick, Isak’s cross taking a deflection off Christopher Nkunku, Joe Willock heading it on and Axel Disasi flailing and failing to prevent it crossing the line.
Beautiful chaos was back.
Jorgensen’s meek audition
Maresca made a point ahead of this game to stress that he is not planning to change his first-choice goalkeeper anytime soon, but Robert Sanchez’s plummeting approval ratings among Chelsea supporters meant that Filip Jorgensen’s first outing against serious opposition was always going to be studied with particular interest.
It is hard to make a strong argument that the 22-year-old did enough with his performance to compel Maresca to reconsider his stance, even if he was not the primary cause of the self-inflicted Chelsea problems that allowed Newcastle to bustle into a decisive 2-0 lead.
Jorgensen had little chance with the Isak shot that crept under him from close range, after Benoit Badiashile had played Veiga into terrible trouble and Tonali had pounced on the Portugal international’s rushed pass. His tentative dive for Willock’s header three minutes later was a poor look, but he may well have been put off by the proximity of Disasi, who could not sort his feet out in time to clear the danger.
But around those two big moments there were other signs that Jorgensen might not be the huge upgrade on Sanchez that many fans crave. One floated left-footed kick went straight out of play. Another pass went straight to the feet of Tonali after a jarring bout of indecision on the ball.
Jorgensen reacts after conceding (ANDY BUCHANAN/AFP via Getty Images)
Jorgensen did manage to sell the sliding Anthony Gordon with a nerveless drag back almost on his own goal line, but that is not the kind of skill to ease supporter anxieties.
The abiding sense is that the demands of Maresca’s system are the root of their goalkeeper distribution issues, and both Sanchez and Jorgensen are operating close to their limits within it.
Howe finally finds the balance he has craved
At their best, teams are seamless, fluid and fluent, full of hidden relationships and partnerships where you cannot see the join.
At other times, they are like jigsaw puzzles; all the pieces are all there but you cannot comprehend how they might fit together.
Newcastle have resembled the latter more than the former this season, particularly in midfield where Howe has decent depth and quality to choose from — more now that Lewis Miley has returned to fitness — but where the overall effect has been disjointed.
Howe watching from the touchline (Harriet Massey/Newcastle United via Getty Images)
True, Chelsea were accommodating. A full team of changes did not make for fluidity of their own, their playing out from the back was haphazard and their high possession encouraged the counter-attack, but Newcastle looked far more balanced.
With Bruno Guimaraes unused until the second half, Tonali played in the centre of midfield and was far more involved. Willock was stationed on the left and with Joelinton shifted in front of him, there was power and ball-carrying prowess.
That meant Gordon, who returned from a calf injury, switching to the right and although this is not his favoured position, his harrying down that flank was a constant menace.
It will have left Howe with some pondering to do; the best teams are not always made up of the best players.
Maresca’s rotation doesn’t pay off
From the moment the team news dropped it was clear that Chelsea would need to succeed in a very different way at St James’ Park to their usual manner under Maresca.
The right side of this team, typically the engine of the attack with Noni Madueke pinning his full-back, Cole Palmer picking incisive passes from the right half-space and Malo Gusto pushing into midfield to bolster possession, was entirely changed and deeply unconvincing.
Axel Disasi has never looked anything other than uncomfortable as a right-back, and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall lacks the raw speed or skill to be a reliable threat on the right wing. There was no one playing the traditional Palmer role inside of them, with Joao Felix more often drifting towards the left side as he attempted to link up with Christopher Nkunku.
Disasi scores an own goal (Owen Humphreys/PA Images via Getty Images)
Chelsea’s left flank had its moments with Mykhailo Mudryk and Marc Cucurella both picking out accurate cutbacks from good crossing positions, but it was not until Madueke replaced Dewsbury-Hall that Maresca’s team managed to carry consistent attacking threat to Newcastle, who responded with defensive substitutions to protect their two-goal lead.
Maresca’s decision to keep Palmer on the substitutes’ bench as his team attempted to come back sent a pretty powerful signal of just where the Carabao Cup lies in Chelsea’s list of priorities. A much more balanced, dangerous XI will take on Manchester United at Old Trafford on Sunday and on this evidence, it will very much need to be.
What did Eddie Howe say?
Speaking at his post-match press conference, Newcastle manager Howe said: “We needed a performance and a result. I think we got that tonight, especially in the first half. I thought it was the hallmark of us at our best — front foot, really good energy, good feel, good quality, good attitude and a massive win for us.
“Football changes, and games change in a heartbeat, and also feelings and momentum can change really quickly. And I think for us, when you are in a difficult moment, you need someone to spark you into life the opposite way.
“And the only people that can do that is us, ourselves, Players, staff coming together and ultimately winning football matches. I think the intention was really good today from the players. I think you could see from kick-off we were there mentally.
“The quality for me has never been in doubt. The fitness levels and sharpness looked good today. And we beat a very good team, let’s make no illusions. I know they make changes, but they are still a top team full of outstanding players. So a really big performance from the group.”
What did Enzo Maresca say?
The Chelsea manager, asked at his press conference why his changes hadn’t worked, said: “I think it worked if we analyse the performance. If we analyse the result, it didn’t work. But for 22 or 23 minutes, until their goal, we were in control of the game, we didn’t concede.
“But then after the goal, we lost control for 10 minutes and then conceded the second. In the last 10 minutes of the first half, we had two or three clear chances that we didn’t score.
“We lost the game because of 10 minutes after the first goal and then for the rest, we were quite good.”
What next for Newcastle?
Saturday, November 2: Arsenal (H), Premier League, 12:30 (GMT), 08:30 (ET)
What next for Chelsea?
Sunday, November 3: Manchester United (A), Premier League, 16:30 (GMT), 12:30 (ET)
Newcastle will play Brentford in the last eight
Draw for the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup:
Tottenham Hotspur v Manchester United
Arsenal v Crystal Palace
Newcastle United v Brentford
Southampton v Liverpool
Matches are likely to be played on December 17 and December 18.
