Joao Pedro of Chelsea celebrates scoring his team's second goal during the Premier League match between Newcastle United and Chelsea at St James' Park on December 20, 2025 in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. (Photo by George Wood/Getty Images)placeholder image
Joao Pedro of Chelsea celebrates scoring his team's second goal during the Premier League match between Newcastle United and Chelsea at St James' Park on December 20, 2025 in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. (Photo by George Wood/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Joao Pedro scored an equaliser as Chelsea came from 2-0 down against Newcastle United at St James’ Park.
Joao Pedro helped Chelsea complete a two-goal comeback in the second half against Newcastle United at St James’ Park on Saturday.
Newcastle raced into a 2-0 lead with a brace from Nick Woltemade inside the opening 20 minutes. Reece James pulled back a goal in the second half with a direct free-kick.
Then Joao Pedro capitalised on a slip by Malick Thiaw to race clear and slot the ball past Aaron Ramsdale to make it 2-2. Newcastle had chances to win the game in the closing stages with Harvey Barnes twice coming close and Anthony Elanga shooting wide, but the points were shared in the end.
The match marked Joao Pedro’s first visit to Newcastle since his failed summer transfer. The Magpies submitted a £55million bid to Brighton & Hove Albion for the Brazilian in June before Chelsea swooped in and hijacked the deal.
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Eddie Howe admires Joao Pedro
Eddie Howe has twice tried to sign Joao Pedro for Newcastle. The first time was back in 2022 when The Magpies had a £30million offer accepted by Watford before making a late U-turn on the deal and signing Alexander Isak instead.
Joao Pedro joined Brighton the following summer instead before securing a move to Chelsea earlier this year.
And it’s no secret Howe rates the 24-year-old highly as he said: "I think Joao is a very, very good player. Technically he is excellent, he can come in and link play, he has a physical presence, he can lead the line and he has that stature in his game.
"He is a scorer of good goals but I haven't watched him independently. I have watched Chelsea, as always, I have watched a lot of their games in preparation.”
Joao Pedro reacts to NUFC draw
Speaking to Match of the Day after coming away from the game with a point, Joao Pedro knew Chelsea were in for a ‘difficult’ afternoon at St James’ Park.
“We knew it would be a tough game,” he said. “We played better than them in the second half, we scored twice and we could have scored more goals.
“We got a point and we have to move forward. We didn't start well in the first half and we conceded two goals very quickly. They play with the fans and we know it is difficult."
Joao Pedro forced a mistake from Newcastle defender Thiaw following a long ball forward from Chelsea goalkeeper Robert Sanchez. Although a mistake from Thiaw allowed the Brazilian to break clear on goal, he still had a lot to do having first received the ball just inside Newcastle’s half.
“I told him [Sanchez] at half-time to play this ball to me,” he said. “I controlled the ball in front and I scored a brilliant goal. It was different.
“I need to learn how to play this kind of game because you cannot draw this sort of game in the Premier League."
The result leaves Newcastle six points behind Chelsea 17 games into the Premier League season. The Magpies have struggled for consistency on the whole but the point against The Blues, albeit frustrating, marks 10 games unbeaten at St James’ Park.
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