Chelsea close on best defensive run since Mourinho days as Frank Lampard singles Rudiger out for praise
Last Updated: November 22, 2020 2:06 pm
Chelsea’s win over Newcastle United this afternoon has since seen the club’s remarkable defensive improvement summed up in an impressive statistic.
Pensioners roll on
The Blues returned to action following the international break a short time ago, with a trip to St. James’ Park.
Chelsea of course headed into proceedings hoping to carry on from where the club left off two weeks ago, with Lampard’s men having not fallen to defeat since the back end of September, a run of 8 outings across all competitions.
This included a stretch of 4 consecutive wins, and clean sheets in 5 of their last 6 fixtures.
Chelsea’s Moroccan midfielder Hakim Ziyech (3R) celebrates scoring the opening goal during the English Premier League football match between Burnley and Chelsea at Turf Moor in Burnley, north west England on October 31, 2020. (Photo by Alex Pantling / POOL / AFP)
And, when all was said and done on Tyneside, keep their fine spell of form alive is precisely what the Londoners managed.
An altogether dominant display on the part of the visitors at St. James’ eventually saw Chelsea emerge with a 2-0 victory.
The afternoon’s scoring was opened with 10 minutes on the clock, when Mason Mount’s wicked delivery from the right was diverted home by the unfortunate Federico Fernandez.
Newcastle, to their credit, on the back of an abysmal first-half display, did work their way back into things following the interval, with Timo Werner’s wastefulness in front of goal having handed the Magpies a lifeline.
The German, though, eventually went on to play a key role in putting Chelsea out of sight.
25 minutes from time, an explosive burst through the heart of the Newcastle backline allowed Werner to slip in Tammy Abraham, with the English international having made no mistake with his finish, notching the away side’s 2nd of the day, and making sure of all 3 points.
Highlights: Newcastle 0-2 Chelsea
Brilliant Blues
On the back of proceedings coming to a close at St. James’, though, it is not Werner, or goalscorer Abraham, who have taken centre stage in the post-match chatter.
Instead, it is Chelsea’s ever-improving backline.
On the back of a shaky opening to the campaign, the Blues have of course looked markedly improved from a defensive standpoint of late.
This upturn can be attributed in no small part to the contributions of summer additions Edouard Mendy and Thiago Silva, who have added a long overdue element of assuredness to Frank Lampard’s charges.
The latter, though, actually played no part this afternoon, having been rested on the back of a trying couple of weeks with his country.
In turn, there had been concerns heading into the clash that Chelsea’s solidity could take a significant hit.
This, in the end, though, evidently did not prove the case.
And, as outlined above, the latest clean sheet secured by the capital giants has since given rise to a remarkable statistic, as showcased below:
⛔@ChelseaFC have kept 4 successive away clean sheets in all competitions for the first time since February 2014 (a run of 5 under Jose Mourinho)
🥅 Prior to this current run, Chelsea had kept 3 clean sheets in 28 away games under Frank Lampard pic.twitter.com/8JP6QhVA5D
— Sky Sports Statto (@SkySportsStatto) November 21, 2020
The man to have replaced Silva in Chelsea’s backline versus Newcastle, meanwhile, was Antonio Rudiger.
The stopper, frozen out by Frank Lampard early in the campaign, has returned to favour somewhat over recent weeks, and did his chances of securing further game-time no harm with a fine display this afternoon.
As such, it came as little surprise to see Rudiger singled out for special praise by his manager during his post-match press conference, with Lampard having explained:
‘I’ve got confidence in Toni. I think he came in and thought his performance alongside Kurt they were very strong. Anything that came in the box they dealt with very well. They had a lot of the ball and they moved it well. I’m really happy as it’s hugely important to have a strong squad this year with the schedule as it is. For Toni to come in and play and keep a clean sheet was brilliant for him and brilliant for me.’
Everything Frank Lampard had to say in his press conference as Chelsea go tophttps://t.co/IMeWo1l82W
— football.london (@Football_LDN) November 21, 2020
Highlights: Anjorin shines & Billy Gilmour builds fitness with Chelsea’s U21s
Rodgers provides injury updates on Ndidi, Pereira & more ahead of Liverpool vs Leicester
This article was edited by Josh Barker.
Chelsea betting odds, next game:
Chelsea vs Tottenham odds: result, both teams to score, correct score & goalscorers
| Chelsea vs Tottenham Result/Both teams score | Yes | No |
|---|---|---|
| Chelsea | 3/1 | 3/1 |
| Tottenham | 5/1 | 5/1 |
| Draw | 10/3 | 11/1 |
| Chelsea vs Tottenham Goalscorers | First | Last | Anytime |
|---|---|---|---|
| Harry Kane | 2/1 | 2/1 | 13/10 |
| Timo Werner | 2/1 | 2/1 | 6/5 |
| Carlos Vinicius | 5/2 | 5/2 | 13/8 |
| Tammy Abraham | 5/2 | 5/2 | 6/4 |
| Olivier Giroud | 11/4 | 11/4 | 13/8 |
Chelsea's latest videos
Chelsea latest news
| # | Team | MP | D | P |
| 1 | Liverpool FC | 10 | 5 | 21 |
| 2 | Tottenham Hotspur FC | 9 | 12 | 20 |
| 3 | Chelsea FC | 9 | 12 | 18 |
| 4 | Leicester City FC | 9 | 6 | 18 |
| 5 | Southampton FC | 9 | 4 | 17 |
| 6 | Everton FC | 9 | 3 | 16 |
| 7 | Aston Villa FC | 8 | 8 | 15 |
| 8 | West Ham United FC | 9 | 5 | 14 |
| 9 | Wolverhampton Wanderers FC | 9 | -1 | 14 |
| 10 | Newcastle United FC | 10 | -3 | 14 |
| 11 | Manchester United FC | 8 | -1 | 13 |
| 12 | Arsenal FC | 9 | -1 | 13 |
| 13 | Crystal Palace FC | 10 | -3 | 13 |
| 14 | Manchester City FC | 8 | -1 | 12 |
| 15 | Leeds United | 9 | -3 | 11 |
| 16 | Brighton & Hove Albion FC | 10 | -2 | 10 |
| 17 | Burnley FC | 8 | -8 | 5 |
| 18 | Fulham FC | 9 | -9 | 4 |
| 19 | West Bromwich Albion | 9 | -12 | 3 |
| 20 | Sheffield United FC | 9 | -11 | 1 |
| Player | Team | Goals |
|---|---|---|
| Calvert-Lewin, Dominic | Everton FC | 10 |
| Son, Heung Min | Tottenham Hotspur FC | 9 |
| Salah, Mohamed | Liverpool FC | 8 |
| Vardy, Jamie | Leicester City FC | 8 |
| Kane, Harry | Tottenham Hotspur FC | 7 |
| Wilson, Callum | Newcastle United FC | 7 |
| Bamford, Patrick | Leeds United | 7 |
| Fernandes, Bruno | Manchester United FC | 6 |
| Watkins, Ollie | Aston Villa FC | 6 |
| Zaha, Wilfried | Crystal Palace FC | 5 |
| Ings, Danny | Southampton FC | 5 |
| Jota, Diogo | Liverpool FC | 5 |
| Grealish, Jack | Aston Villa FC | 4 |
| Werner, Timo | Chelsea FC | 4 |
| Mahrez, Riyad | Manchester City FC | 4 |
| Mane, Sadio | Liverpool FC | 4 |
| Maupay, Neal | Brighton & Hove Albion FC | 4 |
| Jimenez, Raul | Wolverhampton Wanderers FC | 4 |
| Rodriguez, James | Everton FC | 3 |
| Adams, Che | Southampton FC | 3 |
| Player | Team | Red Cards | Yellow Cards |
|---|---|---|---|
| Berge, Sander | Sheffield United FC | 0 | 4 |
| Bissouma, Yves | Brighton & Hove Albion FC | 1 | 3 |
| Evans, Jonny | Leicester City FC | 0 | 4 |
| Egan, John | Sheffield United FC | 1 | 3 |
| Allan | Everton FC | 0 | 4 |
| McGinn, John | Aston Villa FC | 0 | 3 |
| Reid, Bobby | Fulham FC | 0 | 3 |
| Tielemans, Youri | Leicester City FC | 0 | 3 |
| Klich, Mateusz | Leeds United | 0 | 3 |
| Dallas, Stuart | Leeds United | 0 | 3 |
| Doucoure, Abdoulaye | Everton FC | 0 | 3 |
| Bellerin, Hector | Arsenal FC | 0 | 3 |
| Lamptey, Tariq | Brighton & Hove Albion FC | 0 | 2 |
| Romeu, Oriol | Southampton FC | 0 | 3 |
| Mendy, Nampalys | Leicester City FC | 0 | 3 |
| Phillips, Kalvin | Leeds United | 0 | 3 |
| Walker-Peters, Kyle | Southampton FC | 0 | 3 |
| Cooper, Liam | Leeds United | 0 | 3 |
| Lundstram, John | Sheffield United FC | 0 | 3 |
| Hayden, Isaac | Newcastle United FC | 0 | 3 |
| Player | Team | Assists |
|---|---|---|
| Kane, Harry | Tottenham Hotspur FC | 9 |
| Grealish, Jack | Aston Villa FC | 5 |
| De Bruyne, Kevin | Manchester City FC | 4 |
| McGinn, John | Aston Villa FC | 4 |
| Digne, Lucas | Everton FC | 4 |
| Fernandes, Bruno | Manchester United FC | 3 |
| Rodriguez, James | Everton FC | 3 |
| Adams, Che | Southampton FC | 3 |
| Rashford, Marcus | Manchester United FC | 3 |
| Ziyech, Hakim | Chelsea FC | 3 |
| Robertson, Andrew | Liverpool FC | 3 |
| Harrison, Jack | Leeds United | 3 |
| Cresswell, Aaron | West Ham United FC | 3 |
| Son, Heung Min | Tottenham Hotspur FC | 2 |
| Zaha, Wilfried | Crystal Palace FC | 2 |
| Ings, Danny | Southampton FC | 2 |
| Werner, Timo | Chelsea FC | 2 |
| Jorginho | Chelsea FC | 2 |
| Firmino, Roberto | Liverpool FC | 2 |
| Mitrovic, Aleksandar | Fulham FC | 2 |
