Alan Shearer believes Cole Palmer was the “difference” for Chelsea in their 2-1 win over Newcastle United.
Eddie Howe’s men slumped to a third defeat in five matches – leaving them 12th in the Premier League. What looked like a promising start to the campaign a month ago has fallen flat, with talk developing about the manager’s future.
Performances had not been great but Newcastle were grinding out results – until now. Another clash against Chelsea in the Carabao Cup awaits before title challengers Arsenal travel to St James’ Park on Saturday.
Those two games are crucial to Newcastle’s season and the possible direction of the club moving forward. The Magpies are aiming for revenge just 72 hours after tasting a loss in West London.
Watch Geordie Journos on Shots! Have Newcastle United become predictable?
Chelsea edged out a 2-1 win over Howe’s men, with Palmer the star of the show. The England international ripped open the Toon defence with arguably the pass of the season to slot Pedro Neto through for the first goal.
And seconds into the second half, Palmer restored Chelsea’s advantage by whipping the ball past Nick Pope to find the bottom corner. Speaking on The Rest Is Football podcast, Newcastle legend Shearer highlighted the 22-year-old’s game-changing impact.
“Well I mean, Palmer the difference isn’t he?” he said. “(The) pass was sublime. It was like putting it on a plate. Neto did incredibly well to get past Fabian Schar, and then he just put it on a plate for Jackson in the middle.
“I mean, terrible defending from Newcastle, (they) open them up with ease. But I mean, how many times are we going to see it?
“He (Palmer) just looks like he’s just playing in the park with his pals, he’s just an incredible player. Yeah, he got his goal as well, which again, you look at defensively from Newcastle, but he’s just a super talent isn’t he?”
