Enzo Maresca tells Chelsea how they can qualify for Champions League as Eddie Howe defends Nicolas Jackson

Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca has made it clear what his side must do if they want to be playing Champions League football next season. The Blues suffered a huge blow on Sunday when they lost to fellow Champions League hopefuls Newcastle United.

The Blues were behind within two minutes, and after Nicolas Jackson was sent off for a nasty elbow in the 35th minute, it was always going to be a tough climb. Chelsea did respond pretty well in the second half, especially in the circumstances, but a deflected strike at the death ended up deciding it.

Maresca’s men are now desperately holding on to a top five spot after Nottingham Forest’s draw on Sunday and Aston Villa’s win on Saturday, and their fate is still in their own hands, especially given they play Forest on the last day of the season, after taking on Manchester United.

Speaking after the Newcastle defeat, Maresca said: “In this stadium against this team it’s already complicated, and if you give them one extra player it’s even more difficult. The red card affected the game, no doubt, but we had three big chances in the second half, which is not easy with ten men. The energy, the spirit and the togetherness of the team in the second half has been fantastic. It’s something I feel proud of. Now my feeling is you need to win both games [to qualify for the Champions League].”

Asked about the red card, the Chelsea boss added: “I didn’t speak to Nico, it’s not the moment. We will speak in the next day. No doubt he has to learn from it, especially at this stage of the season where we have two more games. You have to avoid this kind of thing. You need all your squad available. It happened, and he will be out. Hopefully he can learn for the future.

“He is our nine, the other one is Marc Guiu who has been injured for three months and is close to being back. We need to find a different solution for the last two games that are important.”

Howe defends Jackson and praises Newcastle
Newcastle boss Eddie Howe told Sky Sports after the game: “We were very pleased. The sending-off changed the game. With the scoreline as it was, it was a tricky second half for us mentally because we wanted to go and attack, and that was the message. But on the pitch, I think it felt different and Chelsea changed and tweaked things and made it difficult for us tactically. So, congratulations to them. But we hung in there and did really well mentally in that second half.

“I was pleased with how we defended. Nick’s (Pope) made two magnificent saves for us. You can’t forget that and the part he’s played in the win today. But we got over the line and that’s the main thing in a game like today.”

On the red card, Howe added: “I’m sure he hasn’t meant to elbow in the way that he has, but ultimately it doesn’t look right.”