Eddie Howe reveals what was 'strange' about Newcastle United's defeat at Chelsea

Newcastle United boss Eddie Howe felt it was a "strange game" as his side suffered a 3-2 at Chelsea.

Nicolas Jackson opened the scoring just six minutes in when he flicked Cole Palmer's effort past Martin Dubravka. The offside flag denied Jackson before Alexander Isak levelled on the brink of half-time with an excellent finish into the bottom corner.

But the Blues restored their lead around the hour-mark when Palmer fired a low shot past Martin Dubravka. Substitute Mykhailo Mudryk then made it 3-1 when he surged into the penalty area to round Dubravka and slot home.

Jacob Murphy made it 3-2 in the closing stages but the home side held out to move one point behind 10th place Newcastle with a game in-hand.

Reflecting on side's defeat, Howe said: "It was a strange game, frustrating conceding from their first attack. I thought we were really good in spells, but not good enough overall. I thought the goals we conceded were really poor.

"We were competitive, but the final ball was not good enough. Their first goal was out of nothing, all three goals [conceded] have the similar characteristics and we didn't defend these situations well enough and you are going to lose if you do that."

United have won just three times away from home this campaign. They travel to Manchester City in the quarter finals of the FA Cup on Saturday before hosting West Ham United in the Premier League after the two-week international break.

Howe added: "It's a similar feeling over the last few months on the road. We know with the quality of players to defend better than that. It was not a bad performance, just inconsistent at times. There's promise that we can hit the heights, but we're not doing it enough."