Enzo Maresca revealed he will not speak to Nicolas Jackson until some point on Monday after the striker’s sending off at St James’ Park on Sunday left Chelsea’s hopes of Champions League qualification in the balance.
Maresca’s side were trailing 1-0 to Sandro Tonali’s early goal for Newcastle when Jackson elbowed Sven Botman in the head and,after a VAR review, an initial yellow card was upgraded to red.
“No doubt, 100%, Nico has to learn,” said Chelsea’s manager, who saw Eddie Howe’s team reinforce their own hopes of a top-five finish. “He will be suspended for the rest of the season now and he has to learn for the future.
“It’s not the moment for me to speak to Nico. In the next day we’ll speak to him. This season is finished for him and he’s our No 9, our striker. We will need to find a different solution for the last two games. We have to avoid these kind of things because we need all our squad available.”
Bruno Guimarães’s late goal ultimately doubled Newcastle’s advantage after Chelsea’s 10 men had improved in a tactically intriguing second half. Even so, Marseca was left rueing Jackson’s loss of control.
“For sure the red card affected the game,” he said. “Against this team, in this stadium it’s already complicated and if you give them one extra player it’s difficult but overall I think, especially in the second half, we created big chances even with 10 players when it’s not easy. If the referee decides a red card it’s a red card but in some different decisions in this stadium sometimes it’s the noise decides if it’s a foul or not.”
While Chelsea now face a home game with Manchester United followed by a potentially fascinating final fixture of the season at Nottingham Forest, Newcastle visit Arsenal next Sunday and entertain Everton on the season’s final day.
Howe was cautiously optimistic of a second qualification for the Champions League in three seasons. “It’s a massive win for us,” he said. “It’s put us in a stronger position but it’s still very tight and we have to keep our focus.
“With nothing to lose in the second half, Chelsea played very well. You could see the quality and level of their players and we lost control of the game but we still managed to defend well enough to keep them out. The pressure on us was huge but credit to the players, who were magnificent, and the crowd.”
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Howe admitted he missed the injured Joelinton, Kieran Trippier and Joe Willock. “We’re slightly stretched now,” he said. “I’ve made no attempt to hide the fact that the summer transfer window will be a big one for us.”
Newcastle’s manager agreed with the decision to dismiss Jackson. “Initially my gut reaction was ‘that’s a sending-off’ because I could see that Jackson wasn’t looking at the ball, he was looking at the man and I think that always puts you in a vulnerable position, especially if you make contact with your elbow like he did,” he said.
“I’ve just seen it again and my opinion hasn’t changed, I do think it’s a red card.”