Newcastle United manager Rafael Benitez has claimed that two "soft" refereeing decisions cost his side during their 2-1 defeat to Chelsea this afternoon.
The Magpies produced an obdurate display at St James' Park and looked on course to come away with a point after Joselu had quickly cancelled out Eden Hazard's opener, only for DeAndre Yedlin's own goal to hand the visitors a third straight victory.
Chelsea's opener came from the penalty spot after Marcos Alonso was adjudged to have been fouled in the area, while the winner stemmed from a free kick which Benitez believed should not have been given.
"We wanted to stay in the game and try to take our chances. We were very close but the penalty was soft, the foul was soft. Maybe they could have scored at the end with the quality they have on the counter-attack but, no, these two situations. It's a pity because we were very close," the Spaniard told Sky Sports News.
"We knew playing open against them, with their quality and ability, they can beat players in one-versus-one situations. Between the lines, they are very dangerous. We needed to be compact, maybe we could frustrate them into mistakes and we'd have chances. The penalty changed everything and we had to be more open.
"We scored a goal but we were so open they had two or three counter-attacks. If they scored from one of these chances, fine, but they had a soft foul and a second ball from a free-kick where we needed to be more aware."
The defeat leaves Newcastle with just one point from their opening three games of the new Premier League season.
Barney Corkhill
