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Final score: Chelsea 3-0 Newcastle
Goalscorers: Michy Batshuayi 31', 44(Chelsea), Marcos Alonso 72'(Chelsea)
Chelsea cruised to a convincing 3-0 win against Newcastle United in their FA Cup 4th round fixture at Stamford Bridge last night. Antonio Conte made his intentions clear even before a ball was kicked, when he named a starting line-up consisting of several crucial first team players including Eden Hazard, Andreas Christensen, N'Golo Kante and Marcos Alonso.
The gamble paid off handsomely for the Premier League champions who ensured their progression to the next round of the competition on the back of a first-half brace from Michy Batshuayi and a stunning free-kick from Alonso in the 72nd minute. Newcastle provided little resistance and failed to force the initiative on the hosts.
Without further delay, let's take a closer look at the 5 major talking points from the game:
#5 There's nothing as sweet as Alonso's left-foot
When Kevin Friend correctly awarded a free-kick to Chelsea at the edge of the penalty area in the 71st minute, for a foul on Davide Zappacosta, there was little uncertainty surrounding the fact as to who should step up to shoulder the responsibility.
Marcos Alonso has been more than dependable from situations like these and he reaffirmed his status as Chelsea's expert free-kick taker when he curled it past Karl Darlow with relative ease to put the game to bed.
The full-back has earned the plaudits for his technique ever since joining Chelsea last year and the goal ensured that he retained his spot as the highest scoring defender in England since the beginning of 2017.
#4 Darlow punched above his weight on a few occasions
Newcastle United's shot-stopper Karl Darlow would feel that the score-line was perhaps a little too harsh on him considering the fact that he was the visitors' best player on the pitch.
Darlow could have used a little more help from his defenders in the build-up to Chelsea's first goal on the night and an unlucky deflection for their second meant that the Magpies' custodian had to pick up the ball from his own net, not once but twice in the first half.
He couldn't do a lot to save Alonso's stunning curling effort either but Darlow should take some inspiration from what followed in the remainder of the match.
The Englishman made two good saves to deny Batshuayi a hat-trick on the night and stood tall against Pedro to deny him a goal as well, after the Spaniard was sent through on goal following a defence-splitting pass from Ethan Ampadu.
#3 Batshuayi continues impressive cup form
There has been a lot of talk about Michy Batshuayi's future at the club for quite some time now. The Belgian has struggled for playing time under Antonio Conte this year, even during the absence of first-choice striker Alvaro Morata, and has been constantly linked with a move away from Stamford Bridge this month.
However, Batshuayi took the opportunity with much aplomb and took his goal tally for the season to double figures on the back of a pleasing brace in front of the home crowd. The goals now mean that the Belgian has scored 8 goals in all cup competitions this term, including the UEFA Champions League.
Chelsea have been on the look-out for adding more depth to their options up front and the club has been linked with potential moves for some bizarre names including the likes of Andy Carroll, Peter Crouch, Salomon Rondon and Ashley Barnes.
If reports are to be believed, Chelsea have also hit a stumbling block in their pursuit of Edin Dzeko, which could now mean that Conte might be willing to offer Batshuayi the opportunity he rightfully deserves.
#2 Newcastle's poor FA Cup run continues
In recent memory, Newcastle United have somewhat been Chelsea's bogey team in the Premier League and the Magpies have managed to cause some serious upsets in recent years. However, they were not granted any favours in their FA Cup 4th round tie just like the meeting between the two sides in the league back in December.
Rafa Benitez, who won the UEFA Europa League with Chelsea during his short interim spell with the club, was left out as a frustrating figure for the majority of the game. The Spaniard failed to rally his troops effectively against his former employers and the gulf in class between the sides was clearly visible.
The Magpies haven't been very impressive in the FA Cup for over a decade now and have failed to progress beyond the 4th round of the competition since their quarter-final appearance back in 2005/06, during the time of a certain phenomenon called Alan Shearer.
#1 Farewell Conte?
The result against Newcastle United will not have any implications on Antonio Conte's future at the club, that is pretty obvious. However, if you look at the bigger picture, there is clearly a sense of detachment between the Italian and the Chelsea board at this point of time.
Chelsea played a total of 47 games last year, during Conte's triumph in the league in his first season at the club, in stark contrast to their extremely packed set of fixtures this term that has already seen the Blues play a whopping 39 games across 4 different competitions.
Conte has put down the blame for losing ground on the title race to Chelsea's inability to compete with their rivals in terms of transfer market activity and believes that the current set of players are forced to play week in, week out due to the club's fragile squad depth.
Chelsea cruised to victory but there was little excitement on Conte's face, the fire that he had in his eyes when he first came to England is dying and so is his commitment at the touchline.
If the Italian dares to look ahead, Chelsea have a daunting task at their hands in the form of Barcelona in the UEFA Champions League, with Premier League games against the two Manchester clubs sandwiching between their round of 16 ties against the runaway La Liga leaders.
In all honesty, it could be make or break time for Antonio Conte
