The game continued.
The pressure naturally shifted to the Newcastle United players, who were playing away.
At this moment, only five minutes remained before the end of the first half.
With stoppage time, there were about eight minutes left to play.
As the head coach of Newcastle United, Benitez urged his players to pressurize the opponent's goal as much as possible during these final minutes, trying to equalize the score.
To be honest, this would be a very challenging task for the current Newcastle United team.
But regardless of the difficulty, every Newcastle United player needed to treat the game with utmost seriousness.
Not long after, midfielder Jacob Murphy showcased his exceptional passing ability.
In the blink of an eye, Murphy's sudden through ball left the opposing defenders helpless.
A brilliant pass!
The ball successfully found Gayle's feet.
Without hesitation, Gayle sprinted forward with all his strength, relying on his explosive pace to surge ahead instantly.
It must be said: Gayle's burst of speed was truly remarkable.
After an unstoppable acceleration, he broke through the defense effortlessly.
Then, Gayle appeared in the penalty area.
This was a golden opportunity for Gayle to score!
He glanced at the goal, adjusted his position, and struck the ball cleanly.
His movements were smooth, but by now, the defensive players had also closed in.
Chelsea center-back Christensen was the first to confront Gayle, doing his best to block the shot.
However, Christensen's reaction was just a fraction too late.
By the time Christensen got in position, Gayle had already unleashed his shot!
It was a simple yet decisive strike.
Then, the ball flew perfectly toward the goal!
This moment highlighted Gayle's individual brilliance.
But wait—what no one anticipated happened next.
At the critical moment, Courtois came through with an incredible save.
Courtois soared into the air, his right hand reaching out with precision.
With a spectacular save, he successfully blocked Gayle's powerful shot!
The crowd erupted into chaos.
In an instant, the fans abandoned their chants of Su Luo's name and began shouting Courtois's name hysterically.
It must be said: Courtois delivered an epic save at the perfect moment.
For the rest of the half, Newcastle United struggled to mount any meaningful pressure on Chelsea.
For the majority of the time, Newcastle found themselves on the defensive.
There was simply no other way—they couldn't handle Chelsea's sharp counterattacks.
Finally, after a hard-fought 45 minutes, the first half ended with Chelsea leading 3–2.
Chelsea, playing at home, temporarily held the advantage with a one-goal lead.
Back in the locker rooms, the head coaches of both teams immediately began strategizing for the second half.
Benitez, Newcastle United's head coach, knew very well that continuing with the same formation as the first half would leave his team with no chance of breaking Chelsea's defense.
So, there was only one choice for Newcastle United:
They had to use offense to create pressure on their opponents.
"We have to score a goal!" Benitez declared with determination.
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