Newcastle crowd influenced Jackson red card, believes Maresca

Jackson was sent off in the 35th minute for a flailing forearm into Sven Botman, a decision initially given as a yellow before being upgraded following a VAR review.

That made Chelsea's hopes of a comeback even more difficult, with the Blues already a goal down thanks to Sandro Tonali's finish in just the second minute.

But Maresca's team had their chances in the second half, with Nick Pope making strong saves to deny Marc Cucurella and Enzo Fernandez, while Reece James also squandered a golden opportunity late on.

James' miss proved costly, with Bruno Guimaraes sealing an important victory for the Magpies in the 90th minute as his shot from distance deflected over Robert Sanchez.

"It's already difficult 11 v 11 in this stadium, against this team. Playing one hour with 10 players has not been easy," Maresca said of Jackson's dismissal.

"I think in the second half the team showed spirit, togetherness.

"The only thing I can say is that sometimes it's too easy to make some decisions in some stadiums. If the referee decides for a red, it's a red.

"Sometimes, in this stadium, you have the feeling that some decisions are from the noise. Again, if the referee decides it's a red card, it’s a red card."

The result saw Chelsea's five-game winning run across all competitions come to an end, with the defeat a huge blow to their hopes of Champions League qualification.

The Blues remain fifth in the table but could drop out of the top five following the conclusion of Sunday's fixtures, with just two games of their season remaining.

Indeed, the Opta supercomputer hands Chelsea a 48.7% probability of finishing in the Champions League places, and Marseca believes it could go down to the wire.

"We were in a good run, but my message was always the same to the players. The game is gone, think about the next one," Maresca said.

"Same now, we need to focus on Friday's game - that's the next one."

"It could be," Maresca added on whether the top five race could go to the final day. "We didn't win today.