Chelsea managed to brush past Newcastle United as Frank Lampard's side start to mount a charge for a place in the top-four of the Premier League.

Marcos Alonso managed to get the only goal of the game at Stamford Bridge on Saturday afternoon as the Blues jumped into fourth in what turned out to be a rather one-sided contest (per Sky Sports).

According to the data collected by WhoScored, Lampard's side enjoyed a lion share of the possession (71% to 29%) and completely dominated Steve Bruce's side in all of the categories they had compiled data on.

Chelsea had 16 shots (with eight on target) whereas the Toon Army failed to work Kepa Arrizabalaga in between the sticks as they were only able to muster six attempts, which none of them were on target.

Although Lampard suggested that the game was 'tough' in his post-match interview (per Sky Sports), it would appear on the face of things that it was not as difficult he made it out to be, or at least, perhaps, one of his unsung heroes made it a lot easier with his work on the pitch.

Kurt Zouma has struggled to settle down in the Chelsea team since returning from last season's loan spell with Everton, despite featuring regularly for the Blues (TransferMarkt), although whether that is because of the injuries to Andreas Christensen and Antonio Rudiger remains to be seen.

However, it would appear the France international defender upped his game against Newcastle this weekend and, potentially, had one of his best performances for the west Londoners since joining them.

According to statistics gathered by WhoScored, the £22.5m-rated enforcer (per TransferMarkt) managed to win six aerial duels, complete three tackles (which included a last-ditch one), make two interceptions and two clearances whilst making 84 passes at a success rate of 92.9%.

Nevertheless, his performance appeared to go unnoticed by some sections of the media, with 90min.com handing him a six, whilst The Sun also gave him the same score as they suggested his overall game was not the best.

Football.London, though, appeared to have been impressed with Zouma's showing and lauded his display as they awarded him an eight and stated that he had a "really dominating performance" and felt it was "his best of the season so far".

Of course, with the options available to Lampard, whether the 24-year-old continues to get the regular opportunities to continue to perform as well as he did against Newcastle remain to be seen, however he certainly showed a promising sign to suggest that exciting things are to come from him in the near future.

Chelsea fans, what did you make of Zouma's performance? Let us know by sharing your thoughts in the comments section below!