Maresca clutches at straws after 10-man Chelsea lose at Newcastle
Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca and Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe. Pic: Owen Humphreys/PA Wire.
Newcastle 2 Chelsea 0
Enzo Maresca attempted to defend the indefensible as the dust settled on a largely self-inflicted defeat that severely dented Chelsea's Champions League hopes.
Instead of laying the blame of a damaging setback squarely at the door of Nicolas Jackson and the Senegal international's calculated thuggery that left the visitors a man down for almost an hour, the blinkered Stamford Bridge boss, astonishingly, instead chose to point the finger at the supposedly referee-intimidating atmosphere generated by 50,000 passionate Geordies.
"Sometimes in this stadium you have the feeling that some decisions are from the noise," the Italian unfathomably insisted as he clutched at straws following an outcome that leaves his side with just one win in their last 10 Premier League away trips. He added: "If the referee decides it's a red card, it's a red card. It's already difficult here with 11 v 11 and sometimes it's too easy to make some decisions in some stadiums."
Maresca was attempting to mitigate nothing more than calculated thuggery. His striker looked squarely at Newcastle defender Sven Botman in prelude to an aerial challenge before delivering a cowardly forearm smash to the Dutchman's cheekbone. Referee John Brooks swiftly upgraded yellow to red when invited to review his decision by video assistant Darren England.
Eddie Howe had a rather more common sense approach to the game-defining challenge. The Newcastle manager said: "My gut reaction was that it was a sending off. Jackson wasn't looking at the ball."
Newcastle, already a goal to the good through Sandro Tonali's early opener, took full advantage, although in fairness to the 10 men so badly let down by their team-mate, it took until the verge of stoppage-time before Bruno Guimaraes claimed a nerve-soothing second goal.
The hosts climbed to third on the back of a sixth consecutive home league win and Howe's upwardly-mobile side can maintain their bid to finish second with a win at Arsenal next weekend.
Despite the setback, victory in their final two games will be enough for Chelsea to seal a place back in the Champions League. Of course they must attempt that without Jackson as the final-day trip to Nottingham Forest increasingly adopts the mantle of a play-off for the top five. "It could do," was Maresca's reaction when that scenario was put to him.
Jackson's stunned silence towards his team-mates at half-time spoke volumes as the gravity of his error began to sink in. Marc Cucurella refused to parrot his head coach's dozy defence and the Chelsea defender said: "Nico didn't say anything. I think he's a bit upset because he wants to help the team. Maybe with 11 players we can do the comeback but now we lose Nico for the next games. It's a big mistake."
Newcastle enjoyed the perfect start, Tonali making and finishing a second minute deadlock-breaker as the Italian dispossessed Romeo Lavia before meeting Jacob Murphy's subsequent cross with a close range first-time finish for his sixth goal of the season to immediately put Chelsea on the back-foot.
The visitors rallied at the outset of the second half and Cucurella forced a smart low save from Nick Pope with his side's first real threat after an hour. They remained in the contest until the death and might have levelled with a late header from substitute Reece James as the 10 remaining Chelsea players refused to wilt under the energy-sapping midday sun.
Newcastle had to wait until the end to double their lead, Guimaraes finding the top corner in spectacular style with a deflected effort from outside the area, Chelsea unable to recover from largely self-inflicted wounds to leave the hosts needing three points form their remaining two games to secure Champions League football next season.
Newcastle (3-4-3): Pope 7; Schar 7, Botman 7 (Miley 55. 7), Burn 8; Murphy 8, Guimaraes 8 (Longstaff 90, 5), Tonali 8, Livramento 7; Barnes 6, Isak 6 (Wilson 90, 5), Gordon 6 (Krafth 65, 7). Booked: Schar, Murphy, Guimaraes.
Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Sanchez 7; Caicedo 7, Chalobah 7 (Sancho 75, 5), Colwill 7, Cucurella 6; Lavia 4 (Gusto 75, 5), Fernandez 6; Neto 5, Palmer 5, Madueke 4 (James 46, 6); Jackson 0. Sent off: Jackson. Booked: Fernandez, Colwill.
Referee: John Brooks
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