Newcastle 2 Chelsea 2 – 20 December 2025 12.30pm
So, the day before the Winter Solstice, which suggests the darkness is starting to end. With last week’s derby performance still casting a dark shadow it would be nice to see a few more rays of light after the midweek Carabao progress started to heal a few wounds.
It felt distinctly wintry for the early kick-off, but United were soon warming everyone up.
An explosive start brought quick rewards as there were only three minutes on the clock when we grabbed the lead.
Gordon won the ball with a fine tackle in midfield and Bruno spread it to Murphy. His first time delivery found the onrushing Gordon at the back post and where I sit the whole place went up and celebrated the goal. However, Sanchez had managed a fairly fortunate save off his thigh and it was Woltemade’s follow up that actually found the net.
A similar link up was to extend the lead on 20 minutes. With the majority of United players loaded forward for a midfield free-kick, Hall slid it to Gordon on the left, where he is starting to rediscover the art of cutting back onto his right foot. He delivered a wicked curling ball in, that Woltemade applied a deft touch to, guiding it past Sanchez for his first NUFC brace.
This was tremendous salvation for Big Nick after his misfortune last weekend and his comments about support from within the ground and the wider community are a credit to the club and city. This can only help with the striker’s confidence and boost his future contributions.
You can only hope that Nick and anyone else looking to do their best for our club stays well away from the hysterics of the chronically online, where reason and sensibility is in short supply. Nine goals so far for a striker who’s new to the league is a fantastic return by the way.
It was nearly a superb first half hat-trick for the German as he got on the end of another fizzing Gordon cross at full pelt, directing his effort narrowly wide when it would have been game over.
Gordon was having his best game in ages, as he fluctuates frustratingly between flashes of his imperious former self (Leverkusen) and woefully ineffective passenger (the mackems). His strong performance raised the team and he should have maybe done better when his blistering strike was tipped over by Sanchez. Gordon had the space to pick his spot as Gusto was malingering on the floor behind him, with Chelsea mithering on that their gamesmanship wasn’t being rewarded. More on that later.
A magnificent first half but United would rue those missed opportunities. Within minutes of the second half Palmer bought himself a free-kick in a threatening position (which we can’t complain about as it is a tactic we regularly deploy). Ramsdale found himself in a horrible conundrum as both Palmer and James stood over the fairly central kick, with an option for the left or right corner. James went right footed over the wall and it was perfectly placed for the bottom corner.
The key moment then followed almost straight from the kick-off. With Gordon marauding full force into the box, Chalobah came steaming in and took his legs. No ball, full contact, clearly in the box. The ref didn’t have a great view but the fact that neither the linesman nor the VAR got this clear decision right is unforgivable, ultimately costing us two points.
This was an infuriating factor of the afternoon, as an earlier tackle by Garnacho on Ramsey looked a straight red on replays, and the game ended with VAR failing to award a red to James and a threatening final free-kick to United for an obvious pull back with Barnes through on goal. Chelsea’s constant barracking of the officials and all round dirty play did not bring the due punishment it merited and this was what cost us. Andy Madley was roundly booed off at the end, although the VAR was equally culpable, if not more.
It was of course, a draw. Gordon has to take a bit of blame as a great opportunity for 3-1 was squandered as he weakly steered a centre to Sanchez when the box was loaded. The keeper produced an almighty throw to Joao Pedro, who dinked a clever header and benefitted from an unfortunate stumble from Thiaw. Pedro went one v one on Ramsdale and I can’t shake the feeling Nick Pope would have done better in this scenario.
Now, here is a perfect illustration of where NUFC are.
The player who scored the equaliser is someone we wanted, pursued and had a fee agreed for. He signed for Chelsea instead. This was because they simply have tons more money and could a) offer higher wages to him and his greedy agent and b) can justify their status as a more likely trophy winner due to the money they have to spend. Newcastle are around £700m behind Chelsea in terms of revenue (over the three year period used for PSR) and trying to compete with them is a loaded dice that takes exceptional skill to navigate. This is the major problem holding us back and it will continue to present itself whoever is the manager. The solution needs to be commercial growth and that is likely dependent on a new ground that is a minimum of five years away, so no matter how much whinging is done, Newcastle United need to play catch up for a while yet.
This is not total forgiveness for Eddie Howe. The derby performance was, as Bruno correctly identified, a mess. The away form has been shocking and yet again points have been lost from a winning position, the 13 squandered to date, the difference between us being top of the league and our current standing of 11th.
The biggest criticism has been the impact of the summer signings, as only Thiaw and Woltemade have landed so far. Wissa looked good again on his second half introduction (and could well be the catalyst for this season pivoting) but the main call outs have been close to £100m spent on Elanga and Ramsey.
Ramsey had his best game today but still feels like he hasn’t fully impacted the squad. Given his late signing and early season injury, I’d suggest he has the benefit of time. Elanga is worrying. He looked bereft of confidence and the crowd were on his back as a ponderous wander moments after his introduction saw possession lost. He then made a strong run on the left but steered a poor attempt wide with Wissa and Barnes free in the middle, the former screaming at Elanga for his costly bad decision.
The hope has to be that at this point the previously unavailable or underwhelming click to contribute to a positive second half of the season that may yet deliver something great. We now have our biggest rest until the end of February, with a whopping six days between the Chelsea fixture and the Boxing Day trip to Old Trafford. Here are a couple of positives ahead of that.
First, I’d urge everyone to try and not overreact should things go awry in Salford. After Man Utd we have a run of eight games in all competitions during which six are at home and the other two are against the league’s bottom two sides. This presents a tremendous opportunity to form a run, not to mention the recovery the lack of travel presents. Come late January when this is over, we will be in a better place to judge progress in all four competitions.
Secondly, we all went into today panicked about the full-back situation. Lewis Hall was back and outstanding, and will surely benefit from that bumper six day break, but the real revelation has been Miley at right back. Garnacho was firmly pocketed and Miley’s calm, intelligent play out of defence was a joy, if only Jacob Murphy ahead of him hadn’t been having an off day. There were some good performances, but Miley gets my player of the match (unless the rules can be flexed to allow me to give it to Mickey Van De Ven).
The result (and officiating) left a bitter taste from this one as I headed off to Lane 7 for Christmas darts and drinks with the lads, but this was a canny performance and there are indeed reasons to be cheerful as we approach the new year, with semi finals and European trips on the early agenda.
Keep the faith and Merry Christmas all.
Newcastle 2 Chelsea 2 – 20 December 2025 12.30pm
Match Stats
Goals:
Newcastle United :
Woltemade 4, 20
Chelsea:
James 49, Pedro 66
Possession was Newcastle 47% Chelsea 53%
Total shots were Newcastle 11 Chelsea 13
Shots on target were Newcastle 5 Chelsea 4
Corners were Newcastle 6 Chelsea 4
Touches in the opposition box Newcastle 22 Chelsea 22
Newcastle team v Chelsea:
Ramsdale, Miley, Thiaw, Schar, Hall, Ramsey (Willock 89), Tonali, Bruno, Jacob Murphy (Elanga 73), Gordon (Barnes 72), Woltemade (Wissa 73)
Unused subs:
Ruddy, Joelinton, Alex Murphy, Shahar, Neave
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