Nicolas Jackson’s brainless red card dealt Chelsea’s Champions League qualification hopes a sizeable setback as they fell to a 2-0 loss at high-flying Newcastle on Sunday.

The Blues suffered the worst possible start when Romeo Lavia was caught dilly-dallying on the ball and, moments later, Sandro Tonali swept in Jacob Murphy’s low cross in the second minute.

The away side could not handle Newcastle’s pace, power, and directness, and to make matters worse, Jackson was sent off for recklessly elbowing Sven Botman in the head 10 minutes before half-time.

Chelsea were much-improved in the second half following the introduction of Reece James, and had it not been for the quick reflexes of Nick Pope, Marc Cucurella’s low drive would have levelled proceedings. Bruno Guimaraes, meanwhile, perhaps should have put the game to bed when fed into the six-yard box, but his wild strike flew high over the bar.

The 10 men of Chelsea made a real fist of it as the home crowd grew increasingly anxious, and Pope was once again called into action as he made a smart stop to deny Enzo Fernandez. But not long after James headed just over the bar, Guimaraes’ deflected effort from 20 yards looped over Robert Sanchez to seal a crucial home victory.