It’s been a disaster for Chelsea from minute one in this game against Newcastle, but somehow the Blues have given themselves a lifeline at the start of the second half.
It came from a set piece – that was the only way it was going to happen given how we played in the first half. It also came from the boot of Reece James – the most likely person to step up and deliver.
We’ve run out of superlatives for the captain over the years. In situations like this, he’s one of the few players you can count on to step up when nobody is performing.
James fires in perfect set piece to give Blues a chance
Reece James whips in superb free kick.
After Cole Palmer was fouled on the edge of the area it looked like the number 10 would step up and take it. However right footed James took it instead, totally catching out the Newcastle goalkeeper with a perfect strike pinged into the near side netting.
You can see the goal in the clips embedded here:
Take a bow, Reece James!
A pinpoint free-kick brings Chelsea back into it 🎯@tntsports & @discoveryplusUK pic.twitter.com/9lG0F6wSv5
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) December 20, 2025
[Footage from TNT Sports]
We will still need to do far better than we have done to get back into this game, but it’s a huge moment to get the next goal, and we can only hope this fires up our team to get back into the game in open play.
In other news…
Andrey Santos isn’t in the team today, and it feels unlikely he gets a long run in the side until his manager works out what kind of player he is, something which hasn’t happened yet.
Chelsea aren’t far away from a title challenge, at least in terms of the personnel, according to Peter Crouch and Joe Cole on TNT Sports today. We wonder if Maresca could agree with that?
