Newcastle United looked nervy against Chelsea at times – and captain Bruno Guimaraes has made an honest admission.
Bruno Guimaraes has admitted Newcastle United were nervous before beating Chelsea 2-0 at St James’ Park.
There were no early signs of anxiety as Sandro Tonali fired the Magpies into a second-minute lead. Guimaraes sealed the victory in stoppage with a deflected effort to put one black-and-white foot firmly at the Champions League party next season.
However, everything in between was tense despite Chelsea playing most of the game with 10 men. Nicolas Jackson’s red card appeared to rejuvenate the Blues as the game was disrupted tactically.
Long spells of Chelsea position saw Nick Pope called into action multiple times. It also emanated a nervous atmosphere around St James’ Park with Champions League football at stake.
Speaking post-match, Toon skipper Guimaraes confessed to feeling nervous before taking to the field. He said: “Of course, nerves are normal. It is the end of the season. You know that anything can happen but I think we were positive in our own way.”
Bruno Guimaraes hails ‘special goal’ for Newcastle United
Guimaraes also crowned his goal as “special” while issuing another Newcastle battle cry – this time to the dressing room. Ahead of the Chelsea win, the Brazilian urged supporters to bring the noise.
“We should score the second one earlier in the game but we missed some opportunities,” Guimaraes added. “In the end, 2-0 is ok, we didn’t concede. We scored two. Now let’s go for more. We’re very happy, 2-0 is very good but we lost a little bit of control in the second half and we gave them too much time. But a win is a win.
“We scored at the beginning and the end. It was a special one for me to score today as it is mum’s day in Brazil. It was important but now we must keep going with two matches to go. Overall, I am very happy.”
