Izuchukwu OkosiChelsea beat Newcastle United 3-2 Monday night to ease the pressure on manager Mauricio Pochettino and enhance their chances of qualifying for an European competition, Prime Business Africa reports.
Pochettino’s job as Chelsea’s manager came under scrutiny in the aftermath of a poor run of form but the Blues held on to scrape through the threats of their opposition despite a late rally.
The trio of Nicolas Jackson, Cole Palmer and Mykhailo Mudryk got on the scoresheet for the two-time European champions who now occupies 10th place on the log, one place below the Magpies.
Jackson was first to score for the London side as he flicked in Palmer’s shot for his 12th of the season in the Premier League within six minutes of action.
Newcastle stepped up their game and restored parity through Alexander Isak who found the bottom right corner with a brilliant low strike in the 43rd minute.
Palmer made it 2-1 for Chelsea in the second half as he continues to be a bright spot in an otherwise underwhelming side
The young England international who arrived fe Manchester City was at the end of an Enzo Fernandez pass before cutting inside and let fly a shot for his 11tb Premier League goals of the campaign.
Second half substitute and Arsenal target in the January 2023 transfer window, Mykhailo Mudryk extended Chelsea’s lead when he latched onto the ball meant for Callum Gallagher and embarked on a slalom run before finding the back of the net.
Jacob Murphy fired the ball into the roof of the net with a minute of normal time left on the clock but it was too late to instigate a late comeback.
Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc.
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