Cole Palmer scored and assisted as Chelsea boosted their hopes of a top-half finish with an entertaining 3-2 win over Newcastle at Stamford Bridge on Monday.
Palmer’s low shot was turned into the back of the net by an instinctive flick from Nicolas Jackson after only six minutes, with the Blues then pegged back before half-time courtesy of Alexander Isak’s excellent finish.
An initially low-key game burst into life with Jackson seeing a second goal ruled out for offside before after the break Palmer netted a brilliant strike to retake the lead ahead of a stellar individual goal from substitute Mykhailo Mudryk.
Chelsea eventually held on for a crucial victory despite Jacob Murphy’s late stunner to lift the mood around the club after more questions over Mauricio Pochettino’s future.
Here are three talking points from a thrilling game in west London.
Pressure eased on Pochettino
The victory eases the pressure on Pochettino, who was booed and abused by sections of the away end in Chelsea's 2-2 draw at Brentford last weekend.
The manager could have done without Murphy's 90th-minute screamer, which made for a tense finale and took the gloss off a decent display from his side, but overall he must have been buoyed by an important result.
Particularly encouraging was the way Chelsea responded in the second half after being rocked by Isak's brilliant equaliser shortly before the interval, which looked likely to hand swing the momentum in Newcastle's favour following Jackson’s opening goal on six minutes.
Despite the badly-timed setback, Chelsea came out firing and were the better side, the outstanding Palmer restoring their lead before Mudryk's excellent solo goal.
Concerning, though, was the way Chelsea dropped off characteristically after going 1-0 up and their sloppiness to allow Murphy a late consolation.
In the end, there were more positives than negatives for Pochettino and Chelsea, who were missing a slew of key players, but this was a performance which demonstrated both their quality and naivety as a team.
Cole Palmer inspires Chelsea
Where would Chelsea be without Palmer?
The summer signing continued his remarkable breakthrough season with a goal and an assist, both unerring strikes from outside the box - the first of which was helped on its way into the net by a deft flick from Jackson.
No player in the top-flight has now scored and assisted in the same game on more occasions this term than Palmer - five - and of all aged under 23 in the division, only Bukayo Saka (21) has more direct goal involvements than his 19.
Saka, of course, is playing for a title contender and Palmer for a callow and often dysfunctional Chelsea.
At just 21, Palmer is already Chelsea's most creative player, biggest goal threat and a talisman, capable of dragging them back into games when the chips are down - as he did here.
With Gareth Southgate at Stamford Bridge ahead of naming his final England squad before the European Championship on Thursday, Palmer is all but certain to make the cut and could be a wildcard for his country in Germany.
Who else caught Southgate's eye?
Conor Gallagher was also busy at No10 and is surely a shoo-in for Thursday's squad for friendlies against Brazil and Belgium, but Raheem Sterling appears to be out of the picture, even if he showed glimpses of his menace from the left flank.
Sterling should really have scored when he raced clear and wriggled away from Martin Dubravka but his effort was cleared off the line. He was withdrawn for Mudryk, who is increasingly pressuring him for a place in the Chelsea side.
Anthony Gordon is among the young wingers who appears to be moving ahead of Sterling in Southgate's thinking, but his chances of making the squad are now in major doubt after he was forced off in the first half with a suspected knee injury.
His exit actually coincided with Newcastle improving ahead of their equaliser.
With full-backs Kieran Trippier, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Luke Shaw and Chelsea pair Reece James and Ben Chilwell all sidelined, and Ben White seemingly out of the picture, Southgate was almost certainly assessing the visiting Tino Livramento, too.
The 21-year-old was bright, impressing at both right-back and on the left late in the game. That versatility is likely to appeal to Southgate as he considers emergency cover in defence this week.
