The Brazilian gifted Joelinton a goal at St James’ Park (Picture: Getty Images)
Thiago Silva has apologised to Chelsea supporters after an uncharacteristic error gifted Newcastle a quick-fire third goal in Saturday’s 4-1 defeat at St James’ Park.
The west Londoners fell behind early on to a goal from Alexander Isak but levelled the scores somewhat against the run of play when Raheem Sterling buried a superb free-kick.
But Chelsea were well off the pace in the second half and conceded twice in 60 seconds on the hour-mark, with Jamaal Lascelles putting Newcastle back ahead before Thiago Silva gifted Joelinton a third.
The veteran centre-back, who is usually so flawless at the heart of the Chelsea defence, was the last man back when he under-hit a pass which allowed Joelinton in for an easy one-v-one.
To compound Chelsea’s woes, captain Reece James was sent off not long after before Anthony Gordon bagged a fourth goal of the afternoon for the hosts.
Chelsea were well below par across the board, particularly in the second half, but Silva feels he had a bigger role than most in the thumping defeat and fronted up on social media afterwards.
Writing on Instagram, the 39-year-old posted: ‘I’m devastated. It wasn’t a good day for us.
Chelsea were soundly beaten at St James’ Park (Picture: Getty)
‘I would like to apologise to everyone for the defeat, especially to my team-mates who believe in me and support me every day. I take full responsibility. Let’s gather strength and come back stronger.’
Manager Mauricio Pochettino played down his defender’s mistake afterwards and felt the collective approach of the team – not individual errors – was the biggest issue.
‘That is a mistake, I am not talking about mistakes. I am talking more about energy, we were not in the right… we were not prepared in the best way to compete today. That is my concern,’ said the Chelsea boss.
‘We thought we were ready to compete today but we didn’t in the way the competition demanded,. Even if Newcastle wasn’t great, it was an easy win. To come here, Chelsea, and show it would be difficult for them to play to win the game and beat us.
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‘It was so easy the way that we conceded. the way we were soft in every single challenge, we did not show we were playing for something important.
‘That is why it made me angry and disappointed. Even if we talk about being a young team, we need to learn. These type of games make me very, very, very, very, very angry because it is about showing more personality and character.
‘Okay we are young but we can not miss this type of opportunity to show our best. We cannot come from Tottenham, Man City, [where] around the world people praised Chelsea and then: “OK, I stop one step before, I don’t do the effort in the right moment, OK no problem it is going to fix my teammate in behind”. That is a problem.
‘We need to be more solid in this area. Mental of course and attitude, it is not attitude, it is about showing more strength in our mental game and be ready to compete. This is not the same that play football. I can play football, you can play football but to compete? I want to be ready to compete but today we didn’t.’
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The Brazilian gifted Joelinton a goal at St James’ Park.