Chelsea 2-0 Newcastle – Timo Werner and Olivier Giroud on target for the Blues

The deep freeze is over. Just as London began its slow thaw, so too has Timo Werner, that £53million riddle whose existence as a goal-scorer seemed to have gone the way of the woolly mammoth.

But how he grinned here after ending the long wait. And it was a long wait, made up of horrible numbers – 14 league games without a goal, or 100 days to put it another way, back when Chelsea played Sheffield United in November. And what of minutes of playing time between strikes? It was a precise and damning 1,000.

Nasty figures, those. Grubby figures. The kind of figures that get in an expensive head and grow and fester. But Thomas Tuchel is working a restoration job at Chelsea, and the output indicators are all trending in a very positive way.

Timo Werner ended his 1,000 minute Premier League goal drought to double Chelsea’s lead against Newcastle United

Karl Darlow tries to keep the ball out of the Newcastle goal in vain as the Blues ripped into the visitors in the first half

In the context of the collective, it means five wins from six since he replaced Frank Lampard, and just one goal conceded. An excellent study in progress, that. In the mini, localised drama of Werner, it has meant a steep and continuing improvement under the new management, enabled in part by his move in from the wings into a space behind the striker. The threat has grown in recent weeks and here the product was a good assist for Olivier Giroud’s opener and a mucky strike that put a beaming smile on his own face a moment later.

A fine night for Chelsea, then, and one that also included the rare sight of Kepa Arrizabalaga starting a league game and keeping a clean sheet. If Tuchel can pull off that particular act of reanimation, he will surely be forgiven any concessions made in respect of a playing style that can sometimes seem unadventurous.

Perspective at this point comes from knowing it was Newcastle. Black, white and forever grey Newcastle. Beyond a minor reawakening in the second half, they were poor and ultimately served as the latest in a mostly kind run of fixtures since Tuchel came in – the games with Atletico Madrid and Manchester United next week will offer firmer ground for grand judgements.

Olivier Giroud (left) had opened the scoring for the Blues in the Premier League clash just after the half-hour mark

Giroud (right) celebrates his goal along with Cesar Azpilicueta on his 100th Premier League appearance as a substitute

Giroud had replaced Tammy Abraham who picked up a knock after a tussle with Newcastle defender Jamaal Lascelles

Until then, the only conclusion must be that the new regime has done a fine job of dismantling what has been put in front of them. For this engagement, Tuchel made six changes to the side that crawled past Barnsley on Thursday, with Antonio Rudiger, Jorginho, Timo Werner, Mateo Kovacic, Mason Mount and Cesar Azplicueta all back in the XI. While those levels of rotation from cup to league are normal enough, the retention of Kepa ahead of Edouard Mendy was somewhat more surprising.

It was his first league start since he conceded three against Southampton in October, but maybe Chelsea are not yet willing to write off such an expensive investment. ‘We need a strong Kepa in our squad,’ explained Tuchel ahead of kick-off. ‘He had a good game in the FA Cup so we decided to give him another match to build up a little of rhythm, a little bit of confidence and to trust him.’

What went unspoken was that Newcastle arrived in London with precisely the kind of attack that might rehabilitate a broken goalkeeper. Cruel but fair, even if there have been moderate signs of an upturn from Steve Bruce’s side in recent weeks. That Callum Wilson was struck down by a serious hamstring problem just as they were showing some promise was an especially vicious slap in the face for Bruce, who was also without Javier Manquillo and Fabian Schar here owing to injuries sustained in the Southampton win. With Jeff Hendrick suspended, it meant four changes, with Ciaran Clark, Jamaal Lascelles, Dwight Gayle and Emil Krafth brought in.

The striker went down three times in the first half as Chelsea medics attend to his leg injury before his departure

Abraham looked dejected when he was replaced due to the injury in the 20th minute in the Stamford Bridge clash

As Abraham limps off, Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel (right) looks on after throwing in Giroud (not pictured) as his replacement 

Amid those limitations, Bruce resisted any internal urges to revert to five at the back and also retained the diamond that has brought some life to his midfield lately. A wise choice? As a system it has certainly brought some colour lately, but here the ground they lost in the middle of the pitch was problematic.

Indeed, they barely had a look at possession in the first half, and one blocked shot aside, Newcastle didn’t create a single chance of merit in the opening half an hour.

The blessing, initially, is that Chelsea were less than devastating. They held the ball, but not much of it found its way forwards to fun parts of the pitch. In some order, Marcos Alonso had a shot from a tricky angle saved, Tammy Abraham and Werner put a pair of headers wide and Abraham appealed for a penalty against Jamaal Lascelles. The tackle took man and ball and in the crunch Abraham hurt his ankle, forcing him off for Giroud. One man’s misfortune, and all that.

Werner was a constant threat in an excellent all-round performance that saw him as a threat creatively and in front of goal

Kepa Arrizabalaga started his first Premier League game since October and had little to do on the way to a clean sheet

Tuchel’s Chelsea are now up to fourth in the Premier League table after a fourth consecutive top flight victory

The goal came shortly after the half hour and was rooted in the work on Werner, who tricked Emil Krafth into giving up some space and crossed low from the right. Karl Darlow pushed the delivery out but from there Giroud finished. Across the competitions it was his 10th of the season.

The second was scrappy, nudged in at the far post by Werner after a Mason Mount corner, and even then it was subjected to a VAR review. When it was given, Tuchel and Werner screamed into the sky. So did Bruce, as it happens.

Newcastle started the second half with a fraction more enterprise and even had a shot on goal. It came from a Jonjo Shelvey free-kick and Kepa made a decent save, albeit a comfortable one. A moment later Joe Willock stabbed wide and 25 minutes from time the same player forced a block from Kepa, so briefly there was some pressure. Very briefly, actually.

RE-LIVE THE ACTION AS IT HAPPENED… 

Chelsea can fire themselves into a Champions League spot as they look to round off the weekend’s fixtures when they host Newcastle United at Stamford Bridge.

Three points for the Blues would see them move into fourth place, while the Toon meanwhile sit just one spot off the bottom three, albeit seven points clear. 

Follow Sportmail’s DAN RIPLEY for live EPL coverage of Chelsea vs Newcastle, including scoreline, lineups and build-up