"They made us suffer." Newcastle boss blames two Chelsea stars over his side's 2-1 defeat.

• Newcastle United boss has blamed two Chelsea stars for his side's 2-1 defeat on Sunday. 

Chelsea were back in Premier League action on Sunday against Newcastle and moved themselves into the top four of the Premier League with a well deserved 2-1 victory over Newcastle at Stamford Bridge.

The Blues dominated and controlled possession in the first half with Eddie Howe’s Magpies looking uncharacteristically uneasy as the match went on. Cole Palmer, always eager to impress, had the ball in the back of the net with six minutes only for the goal to be ruled out for an offside in the build-up.

However, it didn’t take Chelsea long before they went ahead. Palmer released Pedro Neto down the left wing and he squared to Nicolas Jackson for a tap-in after a quick counter attack.

Alexander Isak managed to pull one back with an awkwardly taken equaliser to send the teams into the break on level terms but it was Palmer who had the last word. Less than two minutes after the restart he slotted past Nick Pope to secure the points for the hosts.

Newcastle United boss Eddie Howe has admitted that Cole Palmer is the main reason behind his side's loss:

"I’m probably disappointed with the two goals we conceded, especially the second which we thought was self-inflicted, but we gave everything to try and get something.

“A player like Cole Palmer needs to be handled well, he really showed us to work well on ourselves as he finds a way to win the game for Chelsea.

“I think it is just the final bit in both boxes, where we didn’t defend the two moments well enough and I felt we had enough positive actions to score more”.  Howe said as quoted by Chelsea247.

 Asked if Newcastle found it difficult in the opening stages of the game, Howe replied: ‘Yeah, it was.

'I think Palmer’s got that ability, whatever space he has, to be able to wriggle out of tight situations.

‘Of course, if he has too much space he’ll kill you the other way. So we didn’t deal with him particularly well in that opening period of the game.

‘Jackson as well gave us problems but I thought we began to get a grip the longer the game went on. In that first half we scored a really good goal, I felt the momentum with us.

'But the start of the second half, from a technical viewpoint, was disappointing and that ultimately cost us, I think." Eddie Howe added as quoted by Metro. 

Chelsea will face Newcastle United in the EFL cup on Wednesday and how best they handle the game will determine their progress in the competition onto the next round.