Newcastle 2-2 Chelsea: PGMOL explain Anthony Gordon, Trevoh Chalobah penalty decision as Nick Woltemade joins exclusive club

The Premier League Match Centre have explained why Newcastle United were not awarded a penalty in their chaotic 2-2 draw with Chelsea at St James' Park on Saturday lunchtime.

The Magpies painfully threw away a two-goal lead to claim just one point against the Club World Cup winners, who were second best in the first half and deservedly went into the break 2-0 down thanks to a Nick Woltemade double.

The Blues quickly hit back a few minutes after the restart through a Reece James free kick, though, before Joao Pedro completed the Chelsea turnaround midway through the second period.

In between both of the visitors' goals, though, Newcastle fans were incensed at the decision not to award their side a penalty when Trevoh Chalobah barged into Anthony Gordon inside the penalty area.

Gordon was chasing to keep the ball in play before being clattered into by Chalobah, who seemingly made no attempt to play the ball, but on-field referee Andy Madley and VAR official Peter Bankes saw nothing wrong with the challenge.

Newcastle 2-2 Chelsea: Eddie Howe reacts to penalty call after PGMOL explanation

Posting on X - formerly known as Twitter - the PL Match Centre revealed that the officials deemed the incident a "shielding action" with Chalobah "side-by-side" with Gordon.

"The referee’s call of no penalty to Newcastle was checked and confirmed by VAR – with the contact from Chalobah on Gordon deemed to be side-to-side in a shielding action and the ball within playing distance," the post read.

Newcastle boss Eddie Howe unsurprisingly took a different view of the incident, when he was asked by TNT Sports whether he understood the "shielding action" explanation given to justify not awarding the spot kick.

"No, because it's not," the Englishman said. "The defender's only looking at Anthony, not the ball, and I think it's too aggressive."

Madley also enraged the Newcastle fans right before the final whistle, when Harvey Barnes raced through only to go down under pressure from James, but the Chelsea captain escaped a red card for possible denial of a goalscoring opportunity.

Newcastle 2-2 Chelsea: Nick Woltemade emulates Sergio Aguero and Manchester United legend

Before things went pear-shaped for the EFL Cup holders on home soil, Woltemade - who lost the Tyne-Wear derby for Newcastle last weekend with his own goal against Sunderland - got back in the St James' Park good books.

The Germany international crashed home the opening goal after Robert Sanchez had denied Anthony Gordon, before just about staying onside and poking home a second for the hosts midway through the first half.

In doing so, Woltemade became just the fourth man to score twice in the opening 20 minutes of a Premier League game against Chelsea, joining extremely elite company in Robbie Fowler, Paul Scholes and Sergio Aguero.

Fowler was the first to do so for Liverpool in 1994, before Scholes achieved the feat for Manchester United in 1995 and Aguero for Manchester City in 2019.

Newcastle's point temporarily takes them above Tottenham Hotspur into 11th place in the Premier League table, while Chelsea remain fourth, four points behind third-placed Aston Villa.