Maresca hails James and says Chelsea players should be ‘proud’ of Newcastle draw

Enzo Maresca says his Chelsea players should be proud of their comeback draw against Newcastle.

The Blues found themselves two goals down at the break after a double from Nick Woltemade but fought back to draw 2-2 thanks to goals from Reece James and Joao Pedro.

“For sure, in the first half there are things we can do better,” the Chelsea boss said after the game.

“But the way they showed in the second half, character, togetherness, they have to feel proud. 2-0 down against Newcastle away in this stadium, this noise, this environment is not easy. Not many teams can do that and they have done.”

Maresca also lauded the performance of his captain James in helping his side to fight back.

“It was, once again, a top performance,” he said.

“He played for one hour as a midfielder and then the last half an hour as a full-back in his position. Again, he’s doing a fantastic job, not only for the goal, in general, and we are happy for him.”