As against Arsenal the previous weekend, the deciding goal in Newcastle’s favour was conceded shortly after an hour of the game had been played.

It was during a second half in which Chelsea increased our share of the possession, up to 59 per cent from 43 per cent in the first half, yet despite that, we still had only one shot on target in those 45 minutes, as we had before the break.

That second-half shot was from Conor Gallagher. Frustratingly, having weathered a strong Newcastle start to the second half, Chelsea had responded with the effort that drew the best save of the game from Nick Pope but then conceded the goal just two minutes later.

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Half and half

After the game, Graham Potter lamented unforced errors and a lack of quality when Chelsea tried to find a way through what is the joint-meanest defence in the Premier League this season. The Blues had slightly more of the ball across the 90 minutes and played 20 more passes than Newcastle, and our passing accuracy was much improved from the Arsenal game (84% vs 73%), but in the first half we generated just one shot, a relatively tame if on-target hit from Armando Broja.

The Tynesiders had five attempts at goal before the break. None tested Edou Mendy, partly due to some diligent Chelsea blocking, with three of those shots stopped in that way.

Newcastle did manage three shots on target from five overall after the break, including the goal, while Chelsea added to the first-half Broja effort with four shots in the second half.

The Magpies worked eight shots from inside the box to our four, an indication of the difference in standard of the attacking play.

In terms of the quality of the chances presented by those shots, the xG ratings for both sides show that the game’s final score of 1-0 was an accurate reflection of the play.

The Geordies’ defence has kept the highest number of clean sheets this season and as the Blues tried to find a way through, Broja was dispossessed six times, Gallagher three times. In opposition, Joelinton was five times dispossessed and Bruno Guimaraes was on three occasions.

Yet more injury impact

Potter set up the side in a 3-4-2-1 formation but the starting 11 had next-to-no time to make an impact, with his choice for right wing-back, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, lost to injury with only seven minutes played.

Cesar Azpilicueta was the natural option to take over there with Thiago Silva the substitute coming on, but there was even further disruption when Azpi was forced off at half-time. That meant Gallagher dropping back from a front-three role to become wing-back until a formation change. Trevoh Chalobah moved out to right-back as the defence switched to a back-four, allowing an extra man in midfield. That was before the goal.

Newcastle started with a four-man defence. Their England international right-back Kieran Trippier contributed notably to their attack with 10 crosses, four of them successfully finding a team-mate.

Overall Newcastle had a 29 per cent crossing success rate from 21 attempts. Chelsea were 19 per cent successful from 16 crosses.

Potter calls on Hall again

Five of those crosses (one accurate) came from Hakim Ziyech despite the Moroccan only entering the game with 72 minutes played. Second highest for Chelsea crosses was young Lewis Hall with four, with like Ziyech, one finding a team-mate.

Starting for the second game running at left wing-back and later playing left-back before his 73rd-minute withdrawal, there were again moments to admire from the 18-year-old.

Of the Chelsea total of five key passes played leading to a chance on goal, two were played by Hall.

When a half-time change was forced upon Chelsea, Christian Pulisic came on for injured Azpilicueta and was the player moving into the forward line when Gallagher went to wing-back. Pulisic and Hall had the most successful dribbles from either team with two apiece.

Chalobah and Thiago Silva had the best pass accuracy of those who played a significant part in the game. Broja was next.

Defensively, Thiago made five clearances and Jorginho and Ziyech made the most successful tackles of any Chelsea player with four won. Trippier won five tackles for Newcastle.

Saturday’s defeat ends a run of four wins without conceding against Newcastle. This season’s Magpies are on form with this victory giving them five successive Premier League wins for the first time since 2014.

Chelsea have now begun a 45-day gap between fixtures.