Chelsea recovers to draw 2-2 at Newcastle in Premier League after Woltemade’s early double

By Canadian Press on December 20, 2025.

Chelsea recovered from conceding two early goals to Nick Woltemade to draw 2-2 with Newcastle in the Premier League on Saturday, with Joao Pedro’s equalizer coming off a rare assist from a goalkeeper.

Robert Sanchez smashed a long clearance up to Pedro, who headed the ball forward and ended up collecting it himself after Fabian Schar slipped. Pedro slotted a finish underneath Newcastle goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale to earn Chelsea a point in the 66th minute.

Woltemade put Chelsea 2-0 up by scoring from close range in the fourth minute and then glancing home a cross from Anthony Gordon in the 20th.

Reece James launched Chelsea’s fightback by curling a free kick in off the post in the 49th.

Fourth-place Chelsea trimmed its gap to Arsenal to seven points ahead of the leader’s match at Everton later Saturday. Newcastle missed a chance to climb into the top half of the standings.

There are eight games in total on Saturday, including second-place Manchester City — which is two points behind Arsenal — hosting West Ham and Liverpool visiting Tottenham.

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Steve Douglas is at https://twitter.com/sdouglas80

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

Steve Douglas, The Associated Press