Owen Hargreaves has questioned Kalidou Koulibaly and Lewis Hall for their roles in Newcastle United’s winning goal over Chelsea.
Newcastle secured another statement win with Joe Willock drilling home a superb winner at St James’ Park after 67 minutes on Saturday evening.
Miguel Almiron was once again involved, latching onto a hooked through ball and surging in from the left between Hall and Koulibaly before finding Willock.
Assessing the goal, Hargreaves noted 18-year-old Hall, starting his first Premier League game for the Blues, was guilty of ‘ball watching’ as Almiron broke in behind him with Koulibaly failing to force the Paraguayan onto his weaker foot.
‘It was a fabulous finish from Joe Willock. Almiron gets a run on Hall, he’s just ball watching,’ Hargreaves told Premier League Productions.
‘You just think, Koulibaly, you got to know your player. Don’t let him inside on his left foot. Make him go to the right.
‘There’s plenty of space of space in front of that Chelsea back-four. The midfield don’t get back.’
Chelsea suffered their third consecutive Premier League defeat and have now won just one of their last five in all competitions – a Champions League dead rubber at home to Dinamo Zagreb.
They will head into the World Cup break eight points adrift of the top four with Graham Potter coming under pressure just three months into the job at Stamford Bridge.
‘We have had a tough period and there have been a lot a positives but also some negatives,’ the Chelsea boss said post-match.
‘Sometimes you have to accept the struggles you have. It is about regrouping and starting again. It is the second half of the season and there is a long way to go.’
He continued: ‘For different reasons, you have 13 matches in six weeks, a lot of those games away from home. It is what it is and it has been challenging. We have a break now and we need to re-energise.
‘For us in terms of what we’ve had with an incredibly intense period, it is what it is. We need to take the positives. A lot of the boys will be away but we can get away, regroup and go again when we come back.’
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