Newcastle United capitulated in quite a big way against Chelsea at St James’s Park this evening.
The Magpies were always second best against the European champions, it has to be said.
Nevertheless, Newcastle were still in the game by the hour mark after holding out the Blues.
But Chelsea scored three times in the final 25 minutes to secure a comfortable 3-0 win in the North East.
If any Newcastle player was going to make things happen, it was Allan Saint-Maximin.
The 24-year-old has been his club’s best player by a landslide this season but his performance in the draw at Crystal Palace last week suggested he had something to prove.
And he was Newcastle’s most dangerous performer again today, despite Thomas Tuchel putting a minimum of two men on him to silence French winger.
Even some Chelsea fans were impressed by Saint-Maximin and here’s what they said on Twitter about him.
Silver lining
The good news from a Newcastle perspective is that this was probably Graeme Jones’s last game as interim boss.
Jones stepped up to replace Steve Bruce at St James’s Park on a short-term basis.
The 51-year-old admitted himself last week that the club’s new owners had only given him the role for a maximum of two games, which he has now completed.
In theory, it could mean that a permanent successor to Bruce will be named shortly and for the sake of stability, that has to be considered a blinding bit of news, if it happens.
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