Newcastle United finally score from open play but it's not enough to get anything

Alexander Isak broke Newcastle United's streak of not scoring from open play but it was never going to be enough to make the difference at Stamford Bridge.

Watching Newcastle United is becoming a chore again. It was a joy in Eddie Howe's first full season and even last season with all the injury issues, there were still moments of genuine enjoyment, however overall this season, it has felt more like a duty than a privilege. When we've picked up points we've been horrific to watch and when we've played decent we've dropped points and today was the perfect mix of both.

Chelsea could have been out of sight in the first 30 minutes but a VAR check for offside kept the score level before Nicolas Jackson opened the scoring after a stunning Cole Palmer pass set Pedro Neto away before squaring for Jackson to finish.

Newcastle were all over the place and in the first four minutes of the game alone, Dan Burn was turned inside out three times while Fabian Schar failed to provide any kind of back up.

Lewis Hall was outstanding against his old club

Lewis Hall was Newcastle's best player by a country mile in his first outing against his old club, and it was he who provided the cross for Alexander Isak to tap in on the line which probably annoyed the Swedish striker who was clearly trying his hardest not to score today but it would have been impossible for him to miss that chance.

Just 75 second into the second half Chelsea were back in front thanks to Cole Palmer and once again, should have put themselves out of sight but again they let Newcastle back into it, but as has been the story all season, the Magpies just couldn't land that killer blow.

Isak squandered an absolutely amazing chance after rounding Robert Sanchez and then instead of shooting or squaring the ball, tried to take on two Chelsea defenders before rolling home and, as everyone else in the stadium could see was going to happen, Isak lost the ball and Chelsea got it clear. It has to be the most infuriating piece of football I've seen all season and it had me thinking I'll give him a lift to Arsenal myself if that's how he's going to play.

Simon Hooper was abysmal as today's referee

Referee Simon Hooper had an absolute stinker from start to finish, mind, which didn't help the game at all. He was so bad that both sets of fans had turned on him by the end.

Bruno Guimaraes was felled on the edge of the box in the first half, it was the right call not to award a penalty (as VAR showed) but it was definitely a free kick and possibly a red card, but because Hooper let it go and the offence took place outside the box, there was nothing VAR could do. Hooper bottled it and hoped VAR would bail him out and it backfired.

Then in the second half, Bruno slid in on Neto but luckily didn't make contact, however Neto went over as if he'd been cleaned out and Hooper awarded a throw in - so that to me suggests he saw no foul, so where was the booking for diving, Simon?

VAR got him out of trouble again in second half stoppage time after he awarded a penalty to Chelsea after Christopher Nkunku went over in the area trying to claim that Burn had pulled him down, but VAR got him to look at the monitor and overturn his decision after it was clear the contact as minimal.

There were countless other times that Hooper made the wrong call and I can't wait to see what score Rich gives him later on.

Newcastle's season continues to falter, but we're not getting too carried away yet as it is still obviously very early. However, things do need to change quickly before we lag too far behind.