Eddie Howe and Enzo Maresca at St James’ Park.placeholder image
Eddie Howe and Enzo Maresca at St James’ Park. | AFP via Getty Images
Newcastle United 2-2 Chelsea: Enzo Maresca and Eddie Howe had differing views of the draw at St James’ Park.
Chelsea came from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 with Newcastle United at St James’ Park on Saturday afternoon.
It was more points dropped by Eddie Howe’s side from a winning position as a Nick Woltemade brace had them in a comfortable position at the break. But they were left to rue their missed chances in the first half as goals from Reece James and Joao Pedro saw Chelsea rescue a point.
Even at 2-2, The Magpies had chances to win the game through Harvey Barnes and Anthony Elanga in the closing stages but ultimately the spoils were shared.
Eddie Howe: “We deserve to win”
It’s now 13 points dropped from winning positions from The Magpies in the Premier League while they are yet to pick up a single point in any match in which they have trailed.
Reflecting on the match, Howe said: “Tinged with huge disappointment for us because I think we're really disappointed for the players. We deserve to win that game, in my opinion anyway.
“The only disappointment I think from that first half, because I think that's the best we've played, was that we weren't further ahead.
“Had the chances, played with real energy and intensity and quality. Great to see us creating the big moments in that penalty box. Obviously, a huge disappointment. We haven't won the game with the effort we've given.”
Chelsea boss disagrees with Eddie Howe’s claim
When Howe’s comments were put to Enzo Maresca after the game, the Chelsea boss somewhat disagreed and felt his side deserved to win given their second half performance to turn things around.
“I think after the first half they deserved to win the game for sure,” Maresca admitted. “From my point of view, after the second half, we deserved to win the game.
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“So that's why I said the second goal was good. They also had the one with Barnes, that is the only one that I remember as a real chance.
“The key of the first half for me was the goal we conceded. Because after three minutes, you concede a goal and the game goes in the direction that they want.
“So the goal we conceded for me is a key. And then in the second half, I think we scored twice, we could have scored more goals. We changed something up, we had to adjust something at half-time.
“It's a matter of scoring the first one [after half-time]. And if we are able to do that, we have a chance to win the game. So this was my message at half-time. There was no angry words.”
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