Chelsea came back from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 with Newcastle United at St. James’ Park today in a riveting fixture where Nick Woltemade’s first-half brace was canceled out.
It took the big German striker just three minutes to put last week’s derby own goal behind him, as he pounced on a loose ball inside the six-yard box, after Anthony Gordon’s shot was saved by Robert Sanchez, and smashed it into the roof of the net to give Newcastle the lead.
Midway through the first half, Woltemade doubled Newcastle’s lead, as he stuck his leg out to meet a Gordon cross and divert it past Sanchez. There was a VAR check for offside for about three minutes, after which Newcastle’s goal was confirmed.
After no shots on target in the first half, Chelsea needed a response, and they got it right from the start of the second half, as they began to match Newcastle’s intensity and married it with quality on the ball.
Four minutes into the half, Reece James converted a brilliant free-kick where he gave Aaron Ramsdale no chance to bring Chelsea back into the game.
They drew level through Joao Pedro, after a superb drop-kick from Sanchez picked out the striker. Malick Thiaw slipped in trying to keep up with the striker, who controlled the ball superbly on his head, and then bore down on Ramsdale’s goal before sliding a calm finish past the goalkeeper.
Newcastle could’ve snatched the points late on, when both Harvey Barnes and Anthony Elanga had big chances to score, but they spurned both those chances, and in the end, the spoils were shared.
