Newcastle scored a goal in each half to beat top-five rivals Chelsea, who had Nicolas Jackson sent off, 2-0 in the race for Champions League football.

Locked on 63 points apiece in the Premier League table before kick-off, the game was billed as a season-defining fixture between two sides capable of closing the gap on second-placed Arsenal.

But the opening half was a complete mismatch, evident within the first 110 seconds when Sandro Tonali ghosted in at the back post to score after Romeo Lavia was robbed of possession deep in his own half.

If Newcastle were aiming to create some separation between themselves and the competing pack they achieved just that, boosting their own hopes of Champions League qualification while issuing a hammer blow to Chelsea, who attempted to rouse a response in the second period but were competing with a player less.

Jackson’s elbow on Sven Botman had drawn a straight red card after VAR sent John Brooks to the monitor in the 35th minute, the on-field referee upgrading his initial issue of a yellow to red. Chelsea probed, Marc Cucurella testing Nick Pope and Reece James nodding over from Malo Gusto’s cross. But the day belonged to Newcastle.

Bruno Guimaraes broke Chelsea’s resistance again late on to cement the win for Eddie Howe’s side, who have now accumulated as many points as champions Liverpool (46) across their previous 21 games and are in pole position for a top-four finish with two matches remaining, rising to third in the standings.

Howe: The sending-off changed the game

Newcastle boss Eddie Howe said:

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

Burn admits nerves affected Newcastle

Newcastle defender Dan Burn speaking on TNT:

“We knew how important today was. We said pre-match that the cup final was our biggest game of the season but this was second. It wasn’t pretty but we got the job done so it doesn’t really matter.

“Sometimes it’s hard when an opposition team goes down to 10 because you feel like you should dominate, we didn’t want to let them back in. But the crowd were a bit nervy and I think we felt a bit nervy as well.

“We’ve got that big game experience in the squad now and I think we did really well to see the game out.”

Story of the match in stats…

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