9 mins A long lofted pass by David Luiz from inside his own half caught out United's defence, Matt Ritchie dragged wide to shadow Cesar Azpilicueta and Ciaran Clark allowing Pedro to nip in behind and lob the ball over the advancing Martin Dubravka. Clark appeared to have misjudged the flight of the ball as it dropped over his head but Pedro's first touch and finish were both superlative. 0-1

40 mins Christian Atsu won a corner that was swung over from the left by Matt Ritchie, leading to a second flag kick from the same side. This time Ritchie found Ciaran Clark who got between Antonio Rudiger and David Luiz to send in a powerful header from 12 yards that found the bottom corner inside the near post at the Shed End, a position handily just vacated by Pedro. 1-1

Half time: Blues 1 Magpies 1
 
57 mins Anyone wanting to know whey Newcastle concede so many goals from this position had the perfect example of Yedlin's awful defending. He was absent from his right back post as Eden Hazard forged forward and found Willian in space out to the right.

The US international then made little attempt to close Willian down or show him down the outside, allowing Willian to do what he does best - cut inside and curl a fine effort inside the far post. 1-2

Full time: Blues 2 Magpies 1

Rafa Benitez:

"We conceded a goal we could avoid but after that we were fighting for every ball. These players care, you could see that.

"We were working so hard against a good team, and we were doing well. It’s a pity that a player with quality made the difference at the end.

"We finished the first half - the last 20 minutes - being the better side. That, for me, is clear. In the second half, they started moving the ball with more pace. 

"You are getting tired, and it’s not easy, but we finished with a corner, so we couldn’t do more" (apart from actually send the damn thing over into the box.....)

"You could see a lot of positives with the performance but no points. We knew that they would keep the ball and we had to maximise what we did when we got the ball. 

"We had some chances on the counter but our final pass wasn't there. What I can see is that we have to stay calm because it is a long distance race and next week against Cardiff will be massive.

"We have to win more games and we have to do well in the rest of the games. My feeling is that I have confidence in the team if they continue to work as they did today.

"We will have chances to get points against teams who will be closer to us. We have to be better than three teams and if we play like we did today we will do it.

"Whatever happens, this squad can stay up. If we work and play with the same passion, intensity and work rate, we will definitely have chances to get points against a lot of teams.

"We know we can beat some of the teams we still have to play, and in the end, that will make the difference. We have to beat the teams at the bottom of the table.

"We are quite close - we have seen that in a lot of the games against the big teams. When we play against the top sides, we have been close in every game, apart from maybe Liverpool in the last game. Manchester City, Arsenal, Manchester United - we have always been in the games.

"The team has played well and we have had chances, but the final decision in the final third is the decisive thing. If you want to get that right, you have to spend the money. For these players, clubs like Chelsea pay £40million, £50million, £100million, whatever.

"That makes the difference. When you're working so hard, but then one player like Willian makes the difference, you cannot do too much. You have to create chances, and we did that. But they take the chances, and, for you, it's much more difficult"

On Sean Longstaff:

"We knew we had problems with (Mo) Diame and (Jonjo) Shelvey and we have a lot of confidence in him. We didn't want to put him in a position that would be too much for him. We knew it would be difficult, but at the same time we had confidence he could do well."

On Florian Lejeune:

"He gives us something on the ball, and he helps us to play the way we want to play sometimes from the back. He can play short or long, and I am happy with him coming back because he is another player and he can give us more competition."

On Rondon's late chance:

"He didn’t have much power (in the header) but at least we were there. And the point for me is the team was working so hard; they fight for each other, they fight for every ball, and they try until the last minute.”

On the owner's presence:

"I was talking with Lee Charnley before the game. I haven’t seen Mike (Ashley) afterwards, but I knew he was here."
 

They Said

Maurizio Sarri commented:

"I am really very happy with the result. I was really very happy with the performance at Tottenham.

"Today we started very well for 10 minutes. After the goal I think we thought 'now it's easy', but it wasn't. We slept for 20, 25 minutes, so at the end of the first half we were in trouble.

"We need to improve in the mental reaction. After our first goal something happened. We stopped to play for 25 minutes. We need to improve. It was really very important to get three points. For now it's enough.

"We were better in the second half. I'm very happy with the result but we need to improve mentally and technically because we lost a lot of the ball in a stupid way.

"I think our wingers attacked the space better than in the last five or six matches but we need to attack the box better.

"It's very difficult to understand. In the last five matches for us it really was very difficult to score. Today we scored after nine minutes, so the team thought today is very easy. We stopped to play and then we had problems.

"We were not able to react in the right way to the difficulty. Today wasn't a difficulty. We scored after nine minutes, so we had not to face difficulty. 

"But in the last match, for the first time in Watford, we reacted very well to the 1-1, after the goal in the last minute of the first half. I think, apart from the result, we reacted really very well in the last match with Tottenham. 

"Today we had only to manage a positive situation. I think we need to improve our mentality. Our mentality global, I think."

On Eden Hazard and his "false nine" role:

"At the moment in the defensive phase we are doing very well and one of the reasons, in my opinion, is that Eden is playing in that position.

In the second half my feeling was that he enjoyed (it). I played him there because I wanted to see the solution with the three small players.

"I think that at this moment it is a very good solution because we are not less dangerous in the offensive phase and in the defensive phase we are more balanced. 

"In the last six matches we have conceded only three goals and one was a penalty. Now we need to improve attacking in the box when the ball is out of the box. It is impossible for Eden to stay in the box."