Eddie Howe admits two Chelsea players gave Newcastle United ‘problems’

Eddie Howe admits Newcastle United struggled to cope with Cole Palmer and Nicolas Jackson in Chelsea’s 2-1 win at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.

Chelsea made a strong start to the game and thought they had taken the lead in the first half though Palmer before his effort was rule out for offside following a call from VAR.

Palmer then played a sublime pass to release Pedro Neto down Chelsea’s left flank and the Portuguese winger’s low cross was met by Jackson, who scored from close range to open the scoring.

Newcastle equalised through Alexander Isak before the break but Palmer’s excellent finish two minutes after the restart sealed the victory for Chelsea.

Asked if Newcastle found it difficult in the opening stages of the game, Howe replied: ‘Yeah, it was.

‘I think Palmer’s got that ability, whatever space he has, to be able to wriggle out of tight situations.

‘Of course, if he has too much space he’ll kill you the other way. So we didn’t deal with him particularly well in that opening period of the game.

‘Jackson as well gave us problems but I thought we began to get a grip the longer the game went on. In that first half we scored a really good goal, I felt the momentum with us.

But the start of the second half, from a technical viewpoint, was disappointing and that ultimately cost us, I think.’

Meanwhile, Enzo Maresca revealed that he is reluctant for Chelsea to constantly rely on quick counter-attacks.

‘The problem is if you attack quick, you are going to concede a quick attack and it’s not our idea, it’s not our football,’ Maresca said.

‘Today with Pedro on one side, Noni the other, Cole in the pocket, Malo in the pocket, and Nico there, they are also good at making passes and arriving in the last third to create and score goals.’

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