Newcastle United 2-2 Chelsea: Joe Buck match reaction
Newcastle United 2-2 Chelsea: Bruno Guimaraes issued a positive but frustrated message following Saturday’s draw at St James’ Park.
Newcastle’s four-game winning streak at home against The Blues came to a frustrating end as they surrendered a 2-0 half-time lead.
Nick Woltemade put Newcastle two goals up inside the opening 20 minutes before a Reece James free-kick four minutes into the second half and an equaliser from Guimaraes’ Brazil teammate Joao Pedro saw Chelsea share the spoils.
It’s Newcastle’s last game before Christmas and last home match of 2025, ending the year 10 games unbeaten at St James’ Park.
But The Magpies are still six points behind Chelsea in the table and have already dropped 13 points from winning positions this season, a frustrating trend for Eddie Howe and his players.
Following up the disappointment of the derby defeat at Sunderland with a 2-1 win over Fulham in the Carabao Cup and racing into a 2-0 lead against Chelsea looked to be some reaction from Newcastle. In the end, they could have found a winner but it wasn’t to be as they had to settle for a frustrating point against one of their main rivals for European football.
In each of the last two seasons, Newcastle have finished exactly three points behind Chelsea in the Premier League table. That is despite beating The Blues 4-1 and 2-0 at St James’ Park in each of those seasons.
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Bruno Guimaraes issues 31-word message after Chelsea draw
Guimaraes scored a late second goal in the 2-0 win last season but wasn’t able to lead the side to victory on this occasion.
And he made his frustrations clear on Instagram following the game.
The Brazilian wrote: “This isn’t the way we wanted to finish before Christmas, especially after the first half we played today. I believe we deserved more. I hope you all have a great Christmas.🖤🤍3️⃣9️⃣.”
Eddie Howe on Newcastle United 2-2 Chelsea
After Chelsea, Newcastle see out a memorable 2025 with trips to Manchester United on Boxing Day and Burnley on December 30.
“Tinged with huge disappointment for us because I think we're really disappointed for the players,” Howe said. “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.”
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