Enzo Maresca: ‘Not the moment’ to speak to Nicolas Jackson after red card | OneFootball

Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca says now is “not the moment” to speak to Nicolas Jackson after the striker was sent off for an elbow during their 2-0 defeat to Newcastle.

After Sandro Tonali had given the hosts the lead after just two minutes, it took Chelsea some time to get into the match. But after getting a grasp on the game, a moment of madness from Jackson, as his elbow caught Sven Botman clean on the nose, saw him red carded.

The Senegalese was originally shown a yellow card by referee John Brooks, but after a VAR review, it was judged Jackson had deliberately moved his arm towards the face of Botman and the forward received Chelsea’s first red card of the season.

When asked whether he had spoken to Jackson, Maresca confirmed he will not speak to the 23-year-old yet, but hopes he learns from his mistake.

“The red card affected the game,” said Maresca. “In this stadium against this team it’s already complicated, and when you give them one extra player, it’s even more difficult. But overall especially the second half we had big chances, with ten men that isn’t easy. In terms of the red card, if the referee calls for a red card then it’s a red card.

“With some different decisions, in this stadium, it’s sometimes more. The noise to decide if it’s foul or not. With Nico I haven’t spoke to him, it’s not the moment. Over the next day we will speak to him.

“The season for him is finished. He is our nine, he is our striker. Our other one is Marc Guiu who is already injured the last three months. He’s close to being back and we need to find a different solution for the last two games.

“What you have to avoid are these types of things. You need your squad available. It’s happened and now he’ll be out for the rest of the season. Hopefully he can learn from this.”