helsea beat Newcastle 3-0 at St James’ Park, thanks to a second-half double from Reece James, to extend their advantage at the top of the Premier League standings.
James, an England defender, scored a fantastic goal midway through the second period and then made it 2-0 by hammering home a rebound before Jorginho secured the victory with a late penalty.
With their fourth consecutive Premier League victory, the Blues extended their lead at the top to three points.
Managerless defeat Newcastle equaled their longest winless run at the start of a top-flight season, which was set in 1898 and 2018.
It was not the way interim manager Graeme Jones had hoped to give over the reins, with Newcastle set to name a permanent replacement for Steve Bruce before next week’s trip to Brighton.
Jones’ side made life difficult for Thomas Tuchel’s European champions, but they ran out of steam as Chelsea extended their unbeaten league road streak to five games this season.
Newcastle’s game plan initially worked as they suffocated Chelsea in a goalless, quiet first half.
The Magpies were content to let Chelsea have the ball, sitting deep and hoping to hit them on the break for the whole of the first 45 minutes.
The home team’s finest chance of the first half came in the second minute, when Ryan Fraser shot the ball across the face of goal, but no one was close enough to get on the end of it.
In the 29th minute, Chelsea’s Hakim Ziyech thought he had scored with the game’s first attempt on goal, but his effort was shortly ruled out for offside.
When left unopposed on the left edge of the six-yard box, Ziyech should have given Chelsea the lead soon after, but he skied James’ ball over the crossbar.
Newcastle did everything they could to slow down the game. Both goalkeeper Karl Darlow and Matt Ritchie were cautioned by referee Paul Tierney for delaying a throw-in before the halftime break.
The visitors came close to breaking the stalemate early in the second half when Ziyech’s shot was deflected off Jamaal Lascelles and onto a post.
Jorginho next blasted over, and Chelsea’s annoyance was evident when N’Golo Kante – making his 200th Premier League game – and Ziyech were both punished for harsh challenges within a few minutes.
The visitors, however, broke the deadlock in spectacular fashion in the 65th minute. Reece smashed home a left-footed finish from a tight angle after Callum Hudson-cross Odoi’s landed to him on the right outside of the box.
As Newcastle’s legs tired, Chelsea began to find pockets of space, and after Blues substitute Hudson-powerful Odoi’s effort struck Ciaran Clark, James hammered home his second in the 77th minute.
The visitors’ tenacity was rewarded three minutes later when Jorginho converted from the penalty spot after Kai Havertz was tripped by Darlow.
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