Chelsea shrugged off uncertainty over the club’s future to beat Newcastle 1-0 thanks to Kai Havertz’s late goal at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.
The European champions are still reeling from the impact of the sanctions placed on billionaire owner Roman Abramovich by the UK government for alleged close links to Vladimir Putin as the Russian president wages war on Ukraine.
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Chelsea have only been allowed to keep operating thanks to a special licence that still imposes a series of restrictions such as a ban on selling tickets and merchandise.
There was little immediate sign of change once the action got underway in front of a full house at Stamford Bridge with all the tickets already sold prior to Thursday’s announcement of sanctions.
Prior to the match both Chelsea’s technical and performance advisor Petr Cech and manager Thomas Tuchel could offer no guarantees the Blues can even afford to fulfil their fixtures for the rest of the season unless the restrictions of the licence are eased.
In contrast to matches in recent weeks there was no chanting of Abramovich’s name by the Chelsea fans, although there was still a banner with his image hailing the “Roman Empire”.
The chaos caused by questions over where Abramovich amassed his wealth have also seen renewed criticism of the decision to allow Newcastle to be taken over earlier this season by the Saudi sovereign wealth fund.
The Magpies have seen immediate results from their first transfer window under new ownership as they were unbeaten in nine league games to climb away from the relegation zone.
Newcastle will rightly feel aggrieved that Havertz should not have been on the pitch to score the winner as he caught Dan Burn with an elbow in the first half, but escaped with just a yellow card.
The German then produced the one moment of real quality from a scrappy game when he controlled Jorginho’s ball over the top beautifully before prodding home the winner in the 89th minute.
The victory solidified Chelsea’s position in third place as they remain well on course for the much-needed financial boost of qualifying for next season’s Champions League.
