CHELSEA (3-4-3):

Caballero 7; Rudiger 7, Christensen 6, Cahill 7; Zappacosta 8, Kante 7 (Ampadu 77), Drinkwater 6, Alonso 7; PEDRO 8 (Hudson-Odoi 81), Batshuayi 8, Hazard 7 (Barkley 73).

Subs: Eduardo (gk), Musonda, Fabregas, Moses.


NEWCASTLE (5-3-1-1):

6 Darlow: Made an excellent save from Alonso’s volley, but was well beaten by the wing-back’s free-kick

4 Manquillo: Played as a wing-back, but offered next to nothing going forward – couldn’t get close enough to Hazard in his own area

5 Clark: Made a couple of important headers, but struggled to deal with Batshuayi’s movement in the box

5 Lascelles: Not one of the skipper’s better games as Chelsea’s attackers picked holes in Newcastle’s five-man defence

4 Mbemba: Recalled after a lengthy absence, but never looked comfortable as Pedro and Hazard linked effectively

5 Haidara: Called in from the cold for his first appearance of the season, and at least put up a fight against Zappacosta

4 Hayden: Toiled away ineffectively at the heart of midfield and was over-run by Chelsea’s creative players

4 Saivet: A day to forget as he conceded possession cheaply on a number of occasions and conceded the foul that led to Alonso’s goal

6 SHELVEY: Newcastle’s best player before the break as his searching long balls threatened to cause Chelsea problems – not as good after the interval

5 Ritchie: Showed plenty of energy in a free role behind Gayle, but never really looked like hurting the Chelsea defence

4 Gayle: Wasted a decent opening by trying to cut the ball back to Ritchie and scuffed a couple of tame efforts straight at Caballero


Subs:

5 Joselu (for Gayle, 64): Provided more of a physical threat than the player he replaced, but was still easily contained

Murphy (for Manquillo, 77)

Atsu (for Hayden, 83)

(not used): Woodman (gk), Dummett, Yedlin, Diame.


Man Of The Match: PEDRO – The Spaniard produced the pass of the game to help set up Chelsea’s opener, and unpicked the Newcastle defence on a number of occasions.