Chelsea were beaten 2-0 by Newcastle United on Sunday to see their Champions League hopes dealt a blow after Nicolas Jackson’s first half red card at St James’ Park
Enzo Maresca will have crunch talks with Nicolas Jackson after the striker saw red in the first half of Chelsea’s defeat at St James’ Park. After a VAR intervention, Jackson was sent off for flooring Sven Botman with his arm and elbow when Maresca’s men were trailing to an early Sandro Tonali goal.
A Bruno Guimaraes strike doubled the Newcastle lead late in a second half dominated by Chelsea, leaving Maresca to rue Jackson’s moment of madness. The Chelsea manager said: “In the next day, we are going to speak to Nico.
“He is our number nine and his season is now finished. You have to avoid this kind of thing. In the future, hopefully he can learn from this.”
Jackson was originally shown a yellow card by referee John Brooks and Maresca refused to be drawn on whether or not he thought the upgrade was justified. He would only say: “If the ref decides it is a red card, we have to accept that. But for other fouls, there was the noise of the stadium (as a factor).”
It now looks as though Chelsea will have to win both of their remaining Premier League fixtures to qualify for the Champions League but Newcastle should be able to make it with just one win from their two games. And a relieved Eddie Howe hailed Nick Pope as one of the heroes of a hard-fought win, the Newcastle keeper making a couple of superb stops as Chelsea controlled the second half.
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The Newcastle manager, who insisted that Jackson’s red card WAS deserved, said: “Nick made two world-class saves. We were indebted to him. They were magnificent saves – you cannot overlook that.
“That was a massive win for us. We knew the importance of the game and we got over the line. It is still very tight and we need to keep our focus for two more games.”
And Maresca knows exactly what his Chelsea have to do, saying: “We have to find a solution and we have to win both our games.”
Next up for Chelsea is a match against Manchester United. The game has been brought forward to Friday night, and Maresca will need to decide who to start in attack in place of the suspended Jackson.
After that, Maresca’s team will conclude their campaign with a trip to Nottingham Forest. Nuno’s Forest also remain in contention for Champions League qualification, but missed out on a chance to move into the top five when they were held at home by relegated Leicester on Sunday.
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