NEWCASTLE 2-0 CHELSEA: Eddie Howe’s side are now in pole position to qualify for next season’s Champions League after Nicolas Jackson cost the Blues dear on Tyneside
Chelsea could spend the final two weeks of the Premier League season relying on results elsewhere if they are to qualify for the Champions League after the red mist descended on Nicolas Jackson at St. James’ Park.
Newcastle were already a goal to the good and in cruise control before Jackson was sent off following an intervention from VAR for senselessly clattering into Sven Botman with his forearm.
But the striker’s dismissal left the Blues’ hopes of mounting a second half comeback in ruins. No wonder, then, that Enzo Maresca made little attempt to acknowledge Jackson as he trudged off the field.
With a ban on the way, his season is now done and Chelsea’s is now hanging by a thread too: they headed north knowing that victory would ensure they remained in pole position to finish in the top five.
Sunday’s 2-0 loss now means that Nottingham Forest could leapfrog them in the table before the weekend is out should they win their game in hand.
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And with only two fixtures remaining, the Blues’ final day trip to Forest is now primed to be a winner-takes-all shootout which could end with the Londoners taking another unwanted year long sabbatical from Europe’s premier competition.
There are no such concerns for Newcastle; Eddie Howe’s side continue to go from strength to strength after ending their arduous wait for a major trophy back in March and blitzed into an early lead through the impressive Sandro Tonali, who wrestled possession away from Chelsea before finishing off his own move.
On an afternoon where Jackson lost his head, Tonali kept both his cool when it mattered and the ball, retreating to his usual role as the metronome in Newcastle’s midfield after notching his sixth goal of the season.
Victory puts the Magpies within a point of Arsenal in second place – which is still very much up for grabs – albeit the Gunners would re-establish their advantage with a victory in the backyard of the newly minted Premier League champions, Liverpool.
Chelsea did, at least, show some fight after the break despite their numerical disadvantage. Marc Cucurella came closest to plundering a priceless equaliser, only for the giant paw of Nick Pope to thwart him.
Both sides traded jabs in an open second half before a wicked deflected strike from Bruno Guimaraes killed the game off just as the clock struck 90.
Perhaps the biggest consolation on a sobering afternoon for Maresca and Co is that there are plenty more twists and turns to come in the race for a Champions League spot, with Newcastle playing Arsenal next weekend.
But the absence of Jackson for a blockbuster season finale could prove to be the most damaging twist of all.
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