Why Chelsea’s second-half rally at Newcastle offered Maresca cause for optimism

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Rather than a sense of doom and gloom, Chelsea left Newcastle on Sunday with high hopes that their target for the Premier League season can be achieved.

It is rare for a club to take any feeling of optimism after losing to a direct rival at such a critical stage of the campaign. Chelsea’s chances of qualifying for the Champions League via a top-five finish are certainly now in serious jeopardy following Sunday’s 2-0 defeat at St James’ Park. But while the result still has to be regarded as a disappointment, head coach Enzo Maresca actually has good reason to be positive going into the last two league games which he admits are must-win.

The way Chelsea played in the second half with 10 men, following Nicolas Jackson’s dismissal, has made a big difference to the mood in the camp as they prepare to take on Manchester United at home on Friday night.

Having been outfought, out-thought and outplayed when sporting a full complement for most of the first half, they could easily have wilted and been on the receiving end of a morale-sapping heavy scoreline, making Maresca’s task to lift spirits and belief that much harder. His job was harder still after Jackson’s elbow on Sven Botman nine minutes before the interval prompted his red card.

But instead of shrinking in adversity, an all-too-common criticism of the current squad, they actually produced one of their best 45-minute displays away from Stamford Bridge this season. Maresca outwitted counterpart Eddie Howe, too, although will still be accused by the growing critics among the fanbase of adapting his tactics too late.

Everyone will concede there is only one statistic in football that really matters: the final scoreline. But the difference between a lot of the key numbers in the first and second half really highlights just how well Chelsea performed in adversity.

Chelsea started out in their customary 4-2-3-1 formation, with Moises Caicedo operating as an inverted right back so they were more of a 3-2-4-1 when in possession and on the attack. But Newcastle’s change to a 3-4-3 system, using Tino Livramento and Jacob Murphy as wing-backs, meant Maresca’s wingers Noni Madueke and Pedro Neto were stifled. It was a tactic Brighton used to very good effect when they beat Chelsea in the fifth round of the FA Cup and the Premier League in consecutive weeks three months ago.

Newcastle were dominant, as this table, with numbers provided by WhoScored, indicates:

The key aspect to this graphic is not only the shot count, but the possession numbers. It is rare for an opponent to enjoy more of the ball against Maresca’s side.

But look at how everything swings in Chelsea’s favour after the interval. Granted, the onus on them was to push for an equaliser but, again, they did this with 10 men and without a recognised striker on the pitch.

Chelsea also ended up with more passes (531 to 429), short passes (441 to 373), long balls (65 to 42) and crosses (23 to 10) over the course of the 90 minutes.

Maresca was able to change the momentum first by bringing on Reece James for Madueke at the interval — ostensibly not a particularly attack-minded change, but a bold one nonetheless. Chelsea switched to 3-3-3 in attack and 4-4-1 out of possession. The introduction of James allowed Caicedo to be pushed into his preferred midfield role for the rest of the match. This sparked much bigger contributions from fellow midfielders Romeo Lavia and Enzo Fernandez, while Marc Cucurella posed a real threat pushing high up on the left.

Cucurella posed more of a second-half threat (Andy Buchanan/AFP via Getty Images)

In the 75th minute, Maresca was even more daring.

He removed Trevoh Chalobah and Lavia for Malo Gusto and Jadon Sancho. Chelsea were now 3-4-2 without the ball and an even more aggressive 3-3-3 with it because Gusto and Cucurella were operating either side of Colwill at the back, but still pouring forward whenever they could.

Chelsea silenced Newcastle fans for periods after the break. The atmosphere became a lot more nervous. Yes, the hosts were caught between pushing for a second and clinging to what they had, but Nick Pope was forced to make fine saves to deny Cucurella and Fernandez, while James should have scored with a header only to send his late effort over the bar.

Another indication of how Chelsea increasingly had the better of the game the longer it went on is shown below. The size of the towers represent the extent of the pressure being applied. Chelsea’s Manhattan skyline demonstrates their far more consistent threat after the interval, even with their number depleted.

The result was only decided in the 90th minute when a shot from Bruno Guimaraes took a big deflection off Gusto and looped into the top corner. There is certainly an argument that a draw would have been a fair result, a debate further enhanced by the tone of Howe’s comments afterwards.

Usually, a head coach just emphasises the positives of his own team’s display after such a significant win but, on more than one occasion, Howe spoke with a lot of respect for what Chelsea had mustered.

“They played very well. You could see the quality and the level of players that they have,” he said.

“Credit to Chelsea for how they played, but also credit to us for in those difficult moments — and you can feel it around the stadium — we stayed strong, and that’s where I have to mention Nick (Pope) because those two saves were world-class.

“The second half was very much a tactical affair with lots going on. Certainly the changes helped them at half-time. James is a top-quality player. He did very well and helped them in the way that they wanted to play… Caicedo was magnificent, I thought he had a really strong game in both positions.”

Maresca was downcast at Jackson’s dismissal, but more upbeat about what he witnessed after the break (Andy Buchanan/AFP via Getty Images)

Now this is not to say the club should suddenly call for a parade down the Fulham Road to mark ‘the achievement’ of posing a threat with 10 men at St James’ Park, but the significance of their spirited performance should not be ignored either.

Judging by Maresca’s more upbeat body language during his media duties, he feels the same. “We can learn from this game,” he said. “But the energy, the spirit of the team in the second half was top, fantastic and I feel proud of that.”

Replicate this against Manchester United at home and then away at Nottingham Forest on the final day, and Chelsea can achieve their ambitions of playing in the Champions League next season.

(Top photo: George Wood/Getty Images)

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