Newcastle United were narrowly beaten by Kai Havertz’s late strike with the last gasp goal ending the Magpies’ unbeaten run. United, however, are still on the brink of safety after some results still went their way across the weekend.
A win at Everton could all but assure their place in the Premier League next season. In other words it would take a spectacular collapse for Newcastle to end up dropping down this season.
That nine game unbeaten run was essentially the ground work.
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Newcastle fans trade insults with Chelsea faithful
It had started with a pretty subdued atmosphere at Stamford Bridge but after a week which has saw Chelsea hit with government sanctions due to their association with Russia via Roman Abramovich, as well as his disqualification as a top-flight director, Newcastle fans taunted the home supporters.
It started with a round of: “No noise from the bankrupt boys”. Then Chelsea responded with a chant of: “Champions of Europe - you’ll never sing that.” In turn Newcastle fans offered the services of their former owner when they sang: “Mike Ashley, he’s coming for you.”
A weak response from Chelsea saw them conjure up: “Oh Mike Ashley he left because you’re ****” The reality is Newcastle were in such a poor state because Ashley refused to invest.
It would be highly unlikely that Ashley could get his hands on Chelsea, but it would be interesting to see where the Blues would end up under his tenure.
Nothing gets past Dan Burn
Even when Dan Burn was floored after Kai Havertz’s elbow, he still knew who the culprit was. As he laid down for treatment Havertz sauntered past Burn before the big man pulled him up on his ugly challenge.
Havertz was lucky Burn wasn’t on his feet in many ways. But the big defender had made his point.
Burn England shout fair game
The England squad used to be picked on players in the best form. And Burn is arguably the most in form English defender at the moment. The Three Lions squad will be announced soon for friendlies against Switzerland and Ivory Coast at Wembley.
Whether Burn gets the nod or Gareth Southgate sticks with the majority of the squad that has performed so well in recent internationals remains to be seen. A Burn call up could certainly result in a few Geordies heading to the capital later this month.
That used to be the case when stars like Rob Lee, Alan Shearer and David Batty were regulars in the England squad. But these days it feels like a given that Newcastle players get overlooked.
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