CHELSEA ALL CLAPPED OUT

Toon manager shows rival Howe it's done with timely changes

- By Andy Dunn

WELL into added time, Eddie Howe decided to make a couple of substitutions, not an uncommon ploy for a manager with a lead and one eye on the clock.

But this switch was not about time-wasting - the players withdrawn were Alexander Isak and Bruno Guimaraes.

This was man-management, Howe-style, giving St James' Park the opportunity to acclaim two players who have led from the front in a season that is, more than likely, going to bring Champions League football back to St James' Park.

Guimaraes put in another captain's performance, capped by the late strike that confirmed a victory that puts Howe's side in pole position for a top-five finish, but leaves Chelsea with a hill to climb. And while Sweden's Isak, right, did not have his most effective game, had Chelsea possessed a striker of his class and intelligence, they might not have lost.