Chelsea and Mauricio Pochettino secured a crucial 3-2 win over Newcastle on Monday night, with the Blues anticipating returning to European competitions next season.
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The Blues took the lead early in the game, as Nicolas Jackson deflected a Palmer shot past goalkeeper Martin Dubravka in the sixth minute. However, Newcastle managed to equalize in the 43rd minute when Alexander Isak curled a strike beyond the dive of Djordje Petrovic.
Chelsea restored their lead in the 57th minute when Palmer, the Blues' top scorer this season, scored a goal from outside the box. Substitute Mykhailo Mudryk made it 3-1 in the 76th minute when the Ukrainian danced through Newcastle's defense, rounded Dubravka, and slotted home.
Although Jacob Murphy's fierce shot gave Newcastle hope in the 90th minute, Chelsea held on to their lead until the final whistle. With this win, Chelsea now sits just a point behind Newcastle in 11th place in the top-flight table and eight points behind the top six. They have a game in hand over most of their rivals and 11 matches left to play this season.
Chelsea's chance of winning any trophies this season is now limited to the FA Cup. They are set to play against second-tier Leicester City in the quarterfinals, which will take place on Sunday at their home ground. On the other hand, Newcastle should focus on regaining their form, as they have a tough challenge ahead of them. They will be playing against Manchester City in the quarterfinals of the FA Cup, which is scheduled to take place on Saturday.
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Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino Post-Match Conference
The Argentine coach departed Stamford Bridge on Monday evening to the chorus of a Bob Marley song that was sung by the relieved home fans.
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We played a very good team with amazing players, it was really tough. We made the victory, but we keep looking forward and moving forward -- the most important is the three points.
We are building something different and we need to accept it. Today, the fans were good. We need to keep moving and being strong.
It is important for offensive players to feel the confidence and we know we can win games scoring goals, but a little disappointed the way we conceded with two mistakes that should never happen. But that is how we become more mature; we need to keep pushing.
I think he is doing well. I think he arrived in the last day of the [summer] transfer window, and it was so easy to adapt to the team and the demands from the coaching staff.
I think he is showing his quality, and of course it is good to have him in the squad and in the team. He is doing things that maybe before was a little bit not to have a player that can link the game.
Today, he is doing well, he is doing fantastic, he is getting more mature every day and of course, I think he still needs to improve but is doing a very good job.
The only difficult result was extra-time [League Cup final against Liverpool].
I cannot do anything of the frustration of last season, last season was a nightmare to win a game here [Stamford Bridge] now we are winning games and we are solid.
We are building something different and we need to accept it. Today the fans were good, we need to keep moving and being strong.
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Eddie Howe Post-Match Conference
During the post-conference interview match, Howe expressed his frustration with Newcastle's poor defending.
It was a strange game, frustrating conceding from their first attack. I thought we were really good in spells, but not good enough overall. I thought the goals we conceded were really poor.
"We were competitive, but the final ball was not good enough. Their first goal was out of nothing, all three goals [conceded] have the similar characteristics, and we didn't defend these situations well enough, and you are going to lose if you do that.
"It's a similar feeling over the last few months on the road. We know with the quality of players to defend better than that. It was not a bad performance, just inconsistent at times. There's promise that we can hit the heights, but we're not doing it enough."
Anthony has a knee injury. There was no moment, he just felt it, and we don't know how bad he is. It happened quite early in the game, no moment when he felt the injury, it was just a pain there. Dan Burn, I don't think he is too bad."
"Tino is not far away [from a call-up]. He's got huge competition in that area, and I'm sure he will be in the frame. He has all the quality, he attacked very well in the first half, it was a good performance from him."
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Can Chelsea Still Finish in the Top Six?
Mauricio Pochettino missed out on his first English trophy after Liverpool beat Chelsea 1-0 in extra time of the Carabao Cup final. He aims to reinvigorate his team by ensuring they qualify for European competition next season, having missed out this year. We predict Chelsea will end up in the top six, with Bet365 offering Chelsea to finish in the top six at 3.75 odds.
Bet on Chelsea to end up in the top seix on Bet365 offering 3.75 odds
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