Chelsea overturned a 2-0 half-time deficit to salvage a 2-2 draw away at Newcastle United in the Premier League on Saturday.
A Nick Woltemade brace put the Magpies in a commanding position inside the opening 20 minutes, and Newcastle spurned further chances to extend their lead.
Eddie Howe’s men were made to pay for those missed chances as a Reece James free-kick and a brilliant individual effort from Joao Pedro wiped out their lead.
Nick Woltemade banishes Wear-Tyne heartbreak
Nick Woltemade would have loved nothing more than for the ground to swallow him whole at the Stadium of Light last week, as he diverted an own goal beyond Aaron Ramsdale to consign Newcastle to a 1-0 defeat against Sunderland in the first league Wear-Tyne derby since 2016.
However, the Germany international is made of strong stuff, and he enjoyed the perfect recovery here.
Newcastle started fast at St. James’ Park, and after dispossessing James in midfield, Anthony Gordon connected with a Jacob Murphy cross at the far post.
Robert Sanchez made a great save to deny the England international, but an unfortunate slip from Trevoh Chalobah allowed Woltemade the chance to easily fire home the rebound.
16 minutes later, Newcastle and Woltemade doubled their tallies, this time getting ahead of Wesley Fofana to poke a Gordon cross into the Chelsea net — the goal allowed after a VAR check for offside.
Woltemade went on to miss a huge chance to make it 3-0 right on half-time, and ultimately, Newcastle paid for that miss.
However, that shouldn’t take away from the powers of recovery shown here by Woltemade, who overcame the ultimate disappointment last week to terrorise the Chelsea defence.
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Reece James stands tall to inspire Chelsea comeback
Speaking of powers of recovery, Reece James showed plenty of that at St. James’ Park with contrasting performances in each half.
As mentioned, it was James who was robbed of possession in the build-up to Newcastle’s opening goal, simply looking far too casual in possession amid a fierce Magpies press.
And the natural right-back — playing in midfield again — often looked ill-equipped to combat the hard running and intensity from Bruno Guimaraes and Sandro Tonali in the Newcastle engine room.
However, the second half was a completely different story.
It was James who sparked Chelsea’s comeback with a wonderfully dispatched free-kick in the 49th minute, giving Ramsdale no chance with a precision effort that skimmed the post on the way in.
Enzo Fernandez was introduced shortly after, and that gave James much more licence to roam, not to mention a helping hand in the battle against Guimaraes and Tonali.
It was Joao Pedro who scored an impressive equaliser from a long Robert Sanchez kick, with the Brazilian’s headed control wrong-footing Malick Thiaw.
However, it was James who popped up with a crucial last-man challenge to stop Harvey Barnes in front of goal late on. And the England star was everywhere as the game got stretched, making two tackles, an interception and a clearance at one end, while attempting four crosses and playing 10 passes into the final third at the other.
Just when things looked bleak, Chelsea’s captain stood tall and inspired what could be a vital comeback in the battle for Champions League qualification.