Coach Enzo Maresca: 'Chelsea truly deserved the victory'

Coach Enzo Maresca expressed satisfaction as Chelsea showed resilience, coming back to draw 2-2 against Newcastle despite falling behind by two goals early on at the intense St. James’ Park.

Coach Enzo Maresca was pleased with the fighting spirit of his players after Chelsea rallied to a 2-2 draw against Newcastle at St. James’ Park on the evening of December 20th.

In the post-match press conference, Coach Enzo Maresca admitted that Chelsea had a poor start and quickly fell behind 0-2 following two goals from Nick Woltemade. “Conceding early allowed Newcastle to control the game as they wanted. However, I’m pleased the players didn’t give up. They responded strongly in the second half and could have won if they had taken their chances,” the Italian tactician said.

In the second half, Chelsea improved noticeably. Reece James scored a brilliant free-kick to reduce the deficit, before Joao Pedro capitalized on a defensive error to level the score at 2-2. Maresca gave special praise to James: “He was outstanding. For the first hour, James played as a midfielder, then switched back to right-back for the last 30 minutes, maintaining top form throughout. We are very happy with his performance.”

The Chelsea coach also emphasized that mentality was key to securing a point: “It’s not easy to play at St. James’ Park with such pressure and noise. But the players showed great courage, unity, and determination.”

When asked about his yellow card, Maresca explained: “I only questioned the referee because for the same foul, our player was booked but theirs was not.”

Maresca ended the press conference on a positive note: “Last week we beat Everton, reached the domestic cup semi-finals, and drew with Newcastle — these are positive signs. The whole team is moving in the right direction.”

The draw extended Chelsea's unbeaten streak to three matchesand also showed clear signs of recovery under Enzo Maresca’s leadership.