Anthony Gordon boosted Newcastle United with a crucial 1–0 victory over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, denting the Blues’ hopes of qualifying for the Champions League.
The England winger had faced criticism earlier in the week after illness forced him to start Newcastle’s Champions League draw with Barcelona on the bench. He responded in style, scoring the decisive goal in the 18th minute. The move began with Tino Livramento slicing through Chelsea’s defence before slipping the ball to Joe Willock, whose pass allowed Gordon to calmly finish.
Newcastle also felt they should have been awarded a penalty when Malick Thiaw went down under pressure from Reece James—who had just signed a new Chelsea contract the day before—during a corner.
At half-time, Liam Rosenior made an attacking change, bringing on Liam Delap in place of Malo Gusto in an attempt to spark a comeback. Chelsea pushed forward but struggled to break through. Appeals for penalties from Cole Palmer, after contact with Nick Woltemade, and from Marc Cucurella, who believed Sven Botman handled his cross, were both dismissed.
Delap squandered two good chances late on, first blasting over the bar and later sending a header narrowly wide. Chelsea captain Reece James came closest to equalising when his superb 25-yard free kick struck the base of the post and bounced out, leaving the Blues at risk of slipping to sixth place depending on Sunday’s results.
Data Debrief: Chelsea’s struggles at Stamford Bridge continued. After surrendering leads in recent home draws with Leeds United and Burnley, they again failed to find a win despite taking 22 shots. However, those attempts produced a combined expected goals (xG) of only 1.43, with just three efforts on target.
The result means Chelsea have now gone three consecutive league games at Stamford Bridge without a win for the first time since 2023, putting their Champions League push in jeopardy.
Gordon, meanwhile, continues to enjoy facing Chelsea. He has now been directly involved in six Premier League goals against them—three goals and three assists—matching his best record against any opponent, which also stands at six against Tottenham.
