The Spaniard cancelled out Eden Hazard’s penalty with a superb header from DeAndre Yedlin’s cross, but the American’s unfortunate own goal ended the Blues’ winless run at St. James’ Park and left the Magpies empty-handed.

All three goals came inside a frantic 15-minute spell. Beforehand, Maurizio Sarri’s side enjoyed the overwhelming majority of possession, but failed to find a way past Martin Dúbravka and the Magpies’ five-man backline.

And Joselu – who opened his account for the season in United’s opening-day defeat to Tottenham Hotspur a fortnight ago – couldn’t hide his disappointment as Rafa Benítez’s side saw what would have been a valuable point snatched away in the closing moments.

“It’s a very sad day, because we worked hard to prepare for this game, and we knew how difficult it would be. I thought we worked very hard until the end of the game – we tried to react, we tried to carry on,” he told nufc.co.uk. “After Hazard scored the penalty, we had a good effort and we were drawing the game, and I think for our work, it was a fair result for us, and it would have been a very good point. Football is like that – we conceded a goal in the last minute and we lost the game.

“Personally I am very happy for scoring – in the first three I have scored two goals – but the main goal is to take points, and I would prefer to not score goals and win the points, because for the team, the squad and the club, we need to take points quickly.”

Though they had less than 20 per cent of the ball against Chelsea, Joselu felt the Magpies’ defensive-minded approach was a justified one – pointing to the manner of the Blues’ two goals as evidence.

“They had the ball, but they didn’t create many great chances, and that’s why we prepared for the game like this,” he said. “Against this kind of team, you never know how difficult it is to play with different systems. We played with what we think is the best system, and they didn’t create many great chances. Of course, there were some mistakes, but if the referee doesn’t see anything, maybe we draw. And if we don’t concede an own goal, maybe we draw and take the point.

“We prepared like this and I thought we played well, but that’s football.”