Enzo Maresca reacted to a 2-2 draw between **Chelsea**and Newcastle United.
The Toon were on top in the first half and a Nick Woltemade brace bagged a well deserved lead for the hosts at St. James’ Park. But Reece James responded with a fantastic free kick, Joao Pedro pulled the Blues level, and Maresca’s men had swung the momentum their way firmly after the break.
“I think after the first half, [Newcastle] deserved to win the game for sure. From my point of view, after the second half, we deserved to win the game. So this is my point of view. I think after the second goal we scored, we had three or four clear chances to score one more. They also had one with Barnes, that is the only one that I remember as a real chance. But overall, I think the draw is correct.
“[Reece] was, once again, top performance. He played for one hour as a midfielder and then the last half an hour as a full-back in his position. Again, he's doing a fantastic job, not only for the goal, in general, and we are happy for him.
“For sure, in the first half there are things we can do better. But the way they showed in the second half, character, togetherness, they have to feel proud. Because you know better than me, you are from here, 2-0 down against Newcastle away in this stadium, this noise, this environment is not easy. Not many teams can do that and they have done.
“The message at half-time, because even if we were 2-0 down in the first half and the performance was not good, but from the bench I could see that the plan we prepared was the right one.
“In the first half the message was continue to trust what we do. It is a matter of scoring the first one and if we are able to do that we have a chance to win the game. This was my message at half-time.
*“My last week has not been complicated. It has been good. We beat Everton, we beat Cardiff and we drew Newcastle away. So in terms of results, I am happy. Again, there are things that for sure we can do better. But I think we are going in the right direction.”*