Kai Havertz’s late winner against Newcastle United provides some calm in week of turbulence for Chelsea

Someway and somehow, Chelsea continue to win despite the problems facing the club. Blues owner Roman Abramovich announced a fortnight ago that he was ready to sell the club.

However, the Russian billionaire’s ties to his country’s president, Vladimir Putin, meant he was hit with several other sanctions by the UK government.

Even though Chelsea are currently operating with a special license and some of their sponsors have pulled out, the Blues’ performances on the pitch have been nothing short of admirable.

On Sunday, Thomas Tuchel’s side recorded their fourth straight victory in all competitions after beating Newcastle United 1-0 in the Premier League.

Havertz’s winner restores a bit of calm

The Blues were not at their best and laboured for large parts of the game. However, Kai Havertz turned out to be the match-winner with a late goal.

The Germany international once again started as the team’s main striker, with Romelu Lukaku left on the bench. He proved why Tuchel prefers him as the arrowhead of the team.

Havertz’s goal was pure class. The deftness of his control to bring down Jorginho’s long ball was as breathtaking as the quality of the goal he scored to earn all three points for the Blues.

After the crisis-filled week that Chelsea have endured, such a rallying victory is exactly what they need to restore some calm to the club.

Chelsea’s turbulent week

From Abramovich’s assets being frozen to Chelsea’s accounts also being affected, it has been a testing week for everyone associated with the London outfit.

However, how the team has responded on the pitch has simply been impressive. The players, despite the psychological shock of all that is happening, continue to be brave and professional in their performances. Tuchel said after the win against Newcastle, as quoted by Eurosport:

“There's no doubt I'll stay until the end of the season, absolutely. We just have to wait and we still have to go day by day because everything can change. But as you know, the situation is clear - the club's for sale, and hopefully, it will go through to sort things out and give us a perspective. But it's pure speculation and I have no further information than you already have."

"And that's what I meant with day by day, which is anyway a good way to live your life and now we are forced to do it because there are some circumstances we cannot influence. At some point, it's not so nice because we have no strings to pull and no actions to do to help.”

Chelsea’s chances of winning the Premier League may be slim. However, they are still in contention for the Champions League. The determination and character the Blues have shown amid this turbulence is exactly what they need to keep going.