Newcastle United banished the demons of Sunday’s defeat against Chelsea with a 2-0 win over the Blues at St James’ Park in the Carabao Cup.
A three-minute blitz in the first half secured Newcastle United the win against Chelsea and booked them a tie against Brentford in the Carabao Cup quarter-finals. A strike from Alexander Isak and an own goal was enough for the Magpies as they controlled the game in the second half to ensure they kept their opponents at arms length.
However, things could have been different had the Magpies been reduced to ten-men following a tackle by Anthony Gordon on Marc Cucurella. Reactions from the Chelsea players following the tackle saw pushing and shoving from both sets of players with Joelinton one of the more animated figures.
Enzo Maresca, who was not too far from the incident, also reacted strongly to the tackle but saw his protests immediately waved off by referee Chris Kavanagh who was quick to show Gordon just a yellow card. Asked post-match whether he believed Gordon should have been shown a red for the tackle, Maresca refused to be drawn into any debate, stating: “I prefer not to talk about the referee.”
Newcastle United return to St James’ Park on Saturday lunchtime when they host Arsenal aiming to stop a slide that has seen them go five Premier League matches without a win. Chelsea, meanwhile, take on Manchester United on Sunday who could have a new manager in the dugout with Ruben Amorim reportedly closing in on a deal to replace Erik ten Hag.
