Chelsea Cages Magpies, Opens 6-Point Gap on Gunners

It's quite likely both Eden Hazard and Willian will be plying their trade at Real Madrid next season, but for now, Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri is thankful they're still at Stamford Bridge.

The Blues consolidated their 4th-place position in the Premiership -- which is how many English teams qualify for the Champions League -- by edging Newcastle, 2-1, while their local rivals, Arsenal, had lost, 1-0, to West Ham earlier in the day. 

However, Newcastle didn't make the opportunity easy for them.

Which is a story in its own right. The Magpies are usually pretty good at not making things easy on themselves, and they're in the relegation zone again this season.

 

No lie. As has been stated too many times, the club's got dosh, and the fan base is huge and rabid.

But it's always the same story.

 

For this week, anyway, the Blues are fine with that.

Dudes went to work early, getting on the board in only the 9th minute after David Luiz found Pedro through a superb long ball from his own half. It put the Spanish striker alone with Martin Dúbravka and smartly lofted the ball over him:

 

After the goal, Newcastle rebounded quickly, starting a concerted push for the equalizer. Ayoze Pérez had the chance to do so, but his effort went wide from Kepa Arrizabalaga's goal.

However, in the 40th, Rafael Benitez's side leveled things up athrough Ciaran Clark.

Matt Ritchie found Clark from a corner, and the defender headed home after winning the aerial duel against Luiz:

 

After the break, Sarri's crew got their act together.

They were more aggressive, and a goal seemed to be only a matter of time.

 

Then, in the 57th minute, it happened.

Eden Hazard came into possession, drove forward, and passedto Willian. The Brazilian, who was on the left side of the box, curled an effort into the far post of Dúbravka:

 

With that goal standing up as the winner, the Blues left the pitch knowing they still had work to do to catch Liverpool ...

... but they've done their bit to trim the margin of error for both the Gunners and Manchester United.