If Enzo Maresca is trying to talk himself out of the Chelsea job, his players seemed determined to help him after 45 minutes – come full-time, the spirited revival that salvaged a draw was almost as confusing as their manager’s recent habit of speaking in riddles, such was the improvement.
Their first-half performance needed no interpretation. There was nothing cryptic about this, it was simply dreadful. In mitigation, they ran into a Newcastle side who produced their best half of the season.
Or rather, Newcastle ran into Chelsea, as well as through them, around them and over them. Eddie Howe’s men were everything Maresca’s were not – brave, ambitious and clinical.
Nick Woltemade scored twice in response to his own goal that settled last weekend’s Wear-Tyne derby, and the hosts looked set for victory just as much as the visitors looked set for defeat. Newcastle were the better team with the better players and Chelsea had failed to show.
But whatever Maresca said at half-time must have been far clearer than his utterances in the press of late, where he has hinted at discord behind the scenes, much to the confusion of those on the inside. Is the Italian trying to manufacture an end-of-season exit to Manchester City? Some suspect so.
The second-half fightback, then, sparked when Reece James whipped home a wonderful free-kick and completed by Joao Pedro’s superb solo goal, suggests that manager and players are still on the same page. The search for the source of Maresca’s irritation must therefore continue.
Nick Woltemade scored twice as Newcastle United cruised to an early lead against Chelsea
The German netted in response to his own goal that settled last weekend’s Wear-Tyne derby
Enzo Maresca’s side were awful in the first half but were able to kick into gear after the break
It felt like we had the answer after Chelsea’s first-half offering, so wishy-washy were those in blue. Newcastle, by contrast, were all colour and volume, like a tribute act to their very best version from seasons gone by.
When Woltemade came on during the second half of the midweek Carabao Cup win over Fulham, just three days after his derby despair, the cheer was warm and forgiving. Howe said then that the Toon Army have a rare instinct of knowing what their players need and when.
The reception rearmed the German and, here, he came out firing. The fastest form of therapy is not a social-media apology, it is a goal, and Woltemade had two inside 20 minutes.
Anthony Gordon was another with a point to prove after his no-show at Sunderland. For all the England winger was too soft and too slow at the Stadium of Light, he was a fast and nasty nuisance this time.
There was end-product, too. It was he who nicked the ball from Wesley Fofana to spring an attack that allowed Jacob Murphy to deliver from the right. There, at the far post, was Gordon. His stab deserved a goal but, when it was blocked by Robert Sanchez, Woltemade followed up to lift into the roof of the net. With it, St James’ own lid was sent skywards. It was the start Woltemade and the team needed to soothe still further the derby hangover, and they weren’t done there.
Gordon, Murphy, Sandro Tonali and others were relentless in unsettling Chelsea and it felt like the visitors were already praying for mercy of half-time when Woltemade scored his second. Gordon swung in teasingly from the left and the striker applied a diversion with the instep of his right beyond Sanchez and into the bottom corner.
Still they came forward and still they created chances, and Woltemade should have sealed the outcome and his ownership of the match-ball in first-half stoppage-time when Gordon crossed low and he slid in to poke wide from three yards. At 2-0, there was no suspicion of Newcastle dropping yet more points from a winning position (11 in the Premier League before this) especially with Chelsea so insipid. Then, four minutes after the break, James curled in from 25 yards and the mood and momentum changed.
Even still, there was a home counter that should have led to a penalty when Trevor Chalobah barged over Gordon inside the area. It looked a foul in real-time and on replays. Not so said referee Andrew Madley and those in Stockley Park.
Reece James scored a superb free-kick four minutes into the second half to reduce the deficit
Joao Pedro equalised to restore parity for the Blues, who will settle for a point at St James’ Park
‘Anywhere else on the pitch that is a blatant free-kick,’ said Howe. ‘I thought it would be overturned. It’s a clear penalty and obvious error. The defender only focuses on Anthony. They said it was “shielding”. I don’t agree with that.’
By the 66th minute, Chelsea were level. Sanchez pumped downfield and Pedro improvised to control with his head before skipping clear and finishing beneath Aaron Ramsdale.
A game of basketball ensued in the final half hour and, unlike the NBA, it ended in the rarity of a tie. Both sides had chances to win it and moments when they thought they had lost it.
Newcastle substitute Harvey Barnes smashed a volley wide from close range in what ranked as the best of the openings, and Anthony Elanga shot wide when he could have played in Barnes in the 89th minute. Alejandro Garnacho was denied by Ramsdale at the other end.
It was a pre-Christmas cracker of a game, and both managers emerged to claim that their side deserved to win. What does that tell you? The outcome was probably fair.
