A number of defenders have contributed to Chelsea’s goal haul this season with Marcos Alonso, Trevoh Chalobah, Thiago Silva, Antonio Rudiger, Ben Chilwell and Andreas Christensen joining James on our scoring chart.

However, it is much rarer to find a defensive player who has netted twice in one game as the 21-year-old did with his fine double which finally broke the resistance of the Magpies at St James’ Park.

Here are four other defenders who made their marks for the Blues at the other end of the pitch.

John Terry

Our former captain, leader and legend is the Premier League’s highest scoring defender of all time with 41 goals and he twice notched braces in away league matches in London.

At Charlton Athletic in November 2004, Terry was incensed when the Blues were not given a penalty early in the second half for a foul on Tiago but he exacted revenge by scoring with a powerful heading from the resulting corner to make it 2-0 after 47 minutes. Three minutes later, his improvised volley did just enough to beat goalkeeper Dean Kiely as we ran out 4-0 winners.

The Blues skipper repeated the trick in April 2013 in a west London derby at Craven Cottage. After David Luiz had put us in front with a sensational long-range stunner, Terry twice used his head to heap misery on Fulham as he nodded in a Juan Mata cross shortly before half-time before burying Fernando Torres’ near-post flick with 20 minutes left.

Branislav Ivanovic

Ivanovic became a firm fan favourite after heading in his first two Chelsea goals in our 3-1 win at Liverpool in the Champions League quarter-final in 2009 and the Serbian certainly had a knack for scoring crucial goals during his time at the Bridge with 34 goals.

He also netted twice in a 4-1 Champions League win over Spartak Moscow in 2010 and a 4-2 Premier League victory at Aston Villa in March 2012.

In the latter game, his contribution was crucial as Villa had come from two goals down to level the score before Ivanovic went up for a corner with seven minutes left and found the net for a second time with an instinctive header to restore our lead before Torres sealed the win in stoppage time.

Marcos Alonso

Since he arrived at Chelsea in 2016, Marcos Alonso has been one of the game’s most prolific defenders with 25 goals for the Blues including three Premier League braces.

His first Blues double at Leicester City in January 2017 saw the Spanish wing-back open the scoring with his right foot after six minutes before adding a second with his left in the second half as we won 3-0 en route to lifting the league title.

He repeated the feat in a memorable 2-1 win over Tottenham Hotspur at Wembley the following August, opening the scoring with a stunning free-kick after 24 minutes and then slamming home the winner two minutes from time after a swift counter-attack.

His most recent double helped rescue a 2-2 draw at Bournemouth in late February 2020. The Cherries had scored twice in three minutes to take the lead after Alonso’s first-half opener but the Spaniard salvaged a point when he headed home five minutes from time after Aaron Ramsdale had made a fine save to deny Pedro.

Antonio Rudiger

While Rudiger has not scored as regularly for Chelsea as Terry, Ivonovic or Alonso, the German picked the right time to net his only goals of the 2019/20 season at Leicester City.

He broke the deadlock by heading in Mason Mount’s corner in the opening minute of the second half but the Foxes turned the contest around with goals by Harvey Barnes and future Blue Ben Chilwell putting them 2-1 up midway through the second half.

However, Rudiger combined magnificently with Mount once again 19 minutes from time, meeting the midfielder’s free-kick with a majestic header which sailed over Kasper Schmeichel to make it 2-2.

It was a result which ultimately proved important as the Blues qualified for the Champions League after finishing the season in fourth place, four points ahead of the fifth-placed Foxes.