Criminal Nicolas Jackson

In the match considered as the "final" to win a ticket to the Champions League, Chelsea clearly showed their confusion in the face of the pressing play of the home team Newcastle. Things became worse for coach Enzo Maresca and his team, when the home team at St James' Park took the lead after Romeo Lavia lost the ball in the 2nd minute. Jacob Murphy ran up the right wing, passed the ball just enough for Sandro Tonali to finish close to the goal, defeating Robert Sanchez.

While the visitors were still unable to respond, Nicolas Jackson suddenly elbowed Sven Botman in the face, resulting in a red card in the 36th minute. The Senegalese striker's hot-tempered and irresponsible moment put the London representative in a difficult situation for the rest of the match. Jackson himself was also suspended for the rest of the season.

Jackson's red card left Chelsea with no chance of turning the game around.

With 10 men on the pitch, Chelsea pressed forward in vain. Cole Palmer could not make a difference against the home team's dense defense, while Pedro Neto's individual efforts could not trouble Nick Pope. The only time the English goalkeeper had to work hard was in the 62nd minute, when he dived to block Marc Cucurella's powerful cross-angle shot.

Newcastle played subdued and only needed one chance in the 90+1 minute to put an end to Chelsea's hopes of getting a point. Bruno Guimaraes fired a shot from outside the box that hit a player in blue and changed direction, sending Sanchez into the net.

The disastrous defeat left Chelsea in 5th place with 63 points. Coach Maresca's team is only ahead of Aston Villa, the team in 6th place, on goal difference (+19 compared to +7). On the other hand, Newcastle rose to 3rd place and is on the verge of a historic season with both a title (League Cup) and a ticket to the Champions League.

The race for the Premier League top 5 is still very tense. In the last 2 rounds, Newcastle will meet Everton and Arsenal, while Chelsea will also face 2 tough opponents, MU and Nottingham. Any mistake can make the Champions League dream of Chelsea, Newcastle or Nottingham go up in smoke.