‘Stonewall’ – Eddie Howe left outraged by controversial decision in Chelsea draw

Eddie Howe felt Newcastle were denied a ‘stonewall’ penalty in the 2-2 draw against Chelsea at St. James’ Park.

Nick Woltemade needed just four minutes to open the scoring, and made the Toon Army forget all about his error in the loss to rivals Sunderland, after he slotted the ball home into the bottom right corner from close range.

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The Newcastle striker doubled the lead in the 20th minute with a neat finish off an Anthony Gordon cross to put the home side into a commanding position at half-time.

But Enzo Maresca‘s team came out firing in the second half, with Chelsea captain Reece James pulling one back with an carefully guided free-kick from 25-yards out.

With the Magpies desperately attempting to restore their two-goal cushion, there was some controversy when Gordon drove down the right-hand side into the penalty area and appeared to be bodychecked by Trevor Chalobah.

After a lengthy VAR check, the contact from the Blues defender was deemed to be side-to-side in a shielding action, infuriating Howe on the sideline.

“Without a doubt. For me, that’s a clear penalty,” Howe exclusively told talkSPORT after the game. “I think the defender’s gone in overly aggressively. 

“He’s only had eyes on Anthony [Gordon]. For me, it’s a stonewall penalty.”

Shortly after VAR’s refusal to award a penalty, Joao Pedro levelled the score after Robert Sanchez kicked off the fast break.

The Brazilian forward – who opted to move to Chelsea over Newcastle in the summer – skilfully took Malick Thiaw out of the game to give himself a one-on-one opportunity to slot the ball calmly past Aaron Ramsdale.

A grandstand finish followed, with the in-form Harvey Barnes coming the closest to finding a winner, but his volley fired just wide of the sticks that left Howe with his head in his hands.

Tale of two halves? – Not according to Howe

To the watchful eye, the contest appeared to be a tale of two halves. But Howe didn’t agree.

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“I’m not sure I’m in total agreement with that. I think we were really, really good in the first half,” Howe exclusively told talkSPORT post-game. “I thought we were outstanding. Everything that we want to be was there.

“I thought we were good in the second half without hitting the heights. But I don’t think it was Chelsea dominating in the second half. 

“I thought we were more than in it. That third goal, I thought we could get it at any time.”

It was a familiar story for Newcastle, with them having dropped 13 points from winning positions in the Premier League this season – the most in the league.

Howe is of the belief that his team – who now sit in 11th in the table for the time being – are getting closer to getting over the line.

“Yes, we’re working on that tirelessly and continuously and we’ll have to do some more. I think the free-kick changes the game today and that’s a moment from Reece James.

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“That is high quality from him. We know he’s capable from that range. It was a long way out. I think that changes the game and gives them renewed hope.

“We made a mistake for the second goal. A couple of little errors in the build-up to that. But I still think we were trying to attack and the chances were there to win the game.”

Newcastle ‘trending in the right direction’

But it was yet another good performance from summer signing Woltemade, who now has seven goals and an assist in 14 league appearances this season.

“I thought he was excellent today. The goals are a fitting reward for his performance really,” Howe said of his No. 9. “Athletically, that’s the best he’s been. He’s covered a lot of ground.

“He’s linked play really well, especially in the first half. I thought he was really good and fully deserves his two.”

One thing that Newcastle didn’t lack, though, was aggression, with Howe of the belief that his side had arguably their best home performances this season.

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“I think that first half was good in every aspect. I think our press was excellent, our defensive half-shape was excellent, our attacking threat was there in the game. Counter-attacked really well too,” Howe told

“Players looked mentally really good and physically really good, which is some statement after playing so soon again on Wednesday. So massive from the players and it shows what we are capable of.

“I think we are trending in the right direction as a team. Since the last international break, we’ve seen a big upturn in the consistency of performance, Sunderland apart.

“So I’m happy but really disappointed we haven’t won today.”