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Newcastle United (Gayle 23', Perez 59',63') 3-0 Chelsea
Newcastle United claimed an emphatic 3-0 win over Chelsea at St.James' Park on the final day of the season. Dwight Gayle gave Newcastle the lead in the 23rd minute, pouncing on the rebound from a Thibaut Courtois save.
A second-half brace from Ayoze Perez in the span of four minutes tripled the lead for the Magpies, and with Liverpool were also winning their game against Brighton simultaneously, Chelsea's top four hopes were fading to black in front of their eyes.
The win takes Newcastle to 44 points and ensures them a top 10 finish whereas Chelsea finishes the season in fifth place with 70 points, five points behind fourth-place Liverpool and will be playing Europa League football next season.
On that note, here is a look at the things Chelsea did right:
#3 Lack of Service to Giroud
Olivier Giroud was isolated during his 76-minute stay on the pitch against Newcastle at St.James' Park. His involvement in the build-up proved to be very little as he had only 28 touches which further eliminated his presence as he only had two attempts at goal.
The crossing from the wide players was very ineffective and not up to the standard since only five crosses were successfully completed during the entire course of the game. Giroud has proven to be the X-Factor in Chelsea's resurgence in the games that the Blues have won in the last month.
But with Giroud becoming secluded, it proved to be even harder for Chelsea to stage any sort of a comeback along with the fact that Eden Hazard also had a very poor game.
#2 Conte's selection again hurts Chelsea
Antonio Conte once again made a questionable selection in his starting XI for Chelsea's trip to Newcastle. Marcos Alonso was surprisingly dropped to the bench and in his place, January signing Emerson Palmieri came in.
Just like the game against Huddersfield, where Eden Hazard and Olivier Giroud were relegated to the substitutes, Alonso's omission made no sense, in arguably one of the most important games of the season.
The absence of the Spaniard was evident on the pitch as Chelsea's threat from the wing back position was eliminated and Emerson could not step up to the occasion in such a high stakes game. This also affected the attacking players of Chelsea in the final third of the pitch as Alonso's quality was missing.
Other than his wing play, Alonso also provides an added element of goalscoring threat in the box as well as from dead ball situations. Since Hazard and Giroud proved to be inadequate on the pitch against Newcastle, especially in the first half, Conte decided against bringing Alonso at half-time or later on, which ultimately ended in Chelsea losing the game by a three-goal margin.
Ross Barkley who has been out of favour since his arrival in January also got a rare start but starting him ahead of the likes of Willian and Cesc Fabregas was another aimless decision by the Italian since the Englishman has very little game during his short spell in London thus far.
The team selection over the last two games has proven to be the deciding factor including the game against Huddersfield Town as the West Londoners miss out on Europe's elite competition for the second time in three seasons.
#1 Hazard misfires
Eden Hazard's poor run of form carried on against Newcastle United. His goalscoring drought stretched to five games in the league and when a match-winning performance was expected from him on the final day of the season, he did not deliver.
He was contained very well by the Newcastle defence but irrespective of that, Hazard never looked like being a threat in the game. This reflected on his performance on the pitch as he failed to register a single attempt on goal.
The Belgian had 49 touches and completed three dribbles but his passing, crossing and ability to link up with his teammates in and around the box were lacking. This eventually hurt the Blues further due to the fact that Olivier Giroud and Ross Barkley also proved to be very futile and were unable to create anything on their own.
It is important that the Chelsea superstar lifts himself up for the next game, which is against Manchester United in the FA Cup final. If he fails to deliver, it will affect the rest of the team and the consequences will be even more severe if the Blues fail to finish their season with a trophy along with their absence from Champions League football next campaign.
