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Last Season
SJP
Unlikely Lads
Everton (a) Premier League
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Date: Saturday 21st September 2024, 5.30pm Live on Sky Sports Venue: Goodison Park
Conditions: Blunt
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Everton |
Newcastle |
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0 - 0 |
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| Half time: | 0 - 0 | |
| Score Sheet: | ||
Teams |
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Pickford |
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Pope Trippier Schar Burn Hall Tonali Guimaraes Joelinton J.Murphy Gordon Barnes |
| Substitutes: | ||
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(57)
Gueue for Mangala (68) Iroegunam for Harrison |
Almiron
for Barnes (62) Willock for Murphy (69) Livramento for Trippier (71) Longstaff for Tonali (71) |
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| Subs not used: | ||
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Begovic Virginia Armstrong Beto Dixon Lindstrom O'Brien |
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Vlachodimos Ruddy Krafth Kelly Osula |
| Bookings: | ||
McNeil |
Hall Schar
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| Dismissals: | ||
| None | None | |
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Referee:
Craig Pawson - second Toon game of
the season for the South Yorkshire
whistler, who was in charge of the
opening day home win over Southampton and showed Fabian Schar a red card. Pawson was down for the Carabao Cup visit to AFC Wimbledon but replaced when the tie was rescheduled.
VAR: Chris Kavanagh. |
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Attendance: 39,265 including 3,000 away followers in the usual upper and lower sections of the Bullens Road. Among those in the lower tier were current goalkeeper Mark Gillespie and ex-Magpie Paul Dummett.
Goodison Park recollections: Barring an FA Cup pairing, today
brought an end to 126 years of Newcastle playing here - meaning that
we're duty bound to air some random memories from the blue side of
Stanley Park. 3. January 1998. The nearest
thing to a self-fulfilling prophecy you'll see came with 52 minutes of
a drab FA Cup Third Round tie played and no hint of an opening goal.
Amidst audible groans from the Toffees faithful, Ian Rush replaced
Tino Asprilla. The inevitable then duly happened 15 minutes later, as
fellow Anfield old boy John Barnes crossed for Rush to force the ball
home from close range. Geordie Kevin Richardson scored
although goalkeeper Dave McKellar felt that he was impeded by Graeme
Sharp as the cross came over. Gazza hit a post and Ian Stewart put the
rebound wide with the goal gaping, before Billy Whitehurst was flagged
offside as he touched in a shot on the line. 6. March 2022. The Stop Oil campaigner attaching himself to a post, prompting an unprecedented amount of injury time. Everton scored the only goal in the 99th minute. What a waste of energy. 7. October 1995. The pure pleasure of a 3-0 away trouncing of the Toffees on a sunny Sunday. Les Ferdinand, Robert Lee and Paul Kitson on target. In addition to the manner of the victory, wiping away the bitter memories of two Goodison visits that year was welcome - a 0-1 FA Cup loss with an incredible Ruel Fox miss and a 0-2 defeat in the PL when Robert Lee was red-carded. 8. March 2000. The second of three merseyside trips in a month - after Tranmere and before Liverpool - was a goalless dirge. Enter Didier Domi and Kieron Dyer - the former setting up Aaron Hughes for an unlikely opener and the latter then running from his own half to seal victory. 9. October 2008. The first
game after the infamous JFK "Simon Bird" press conference
saw the incoming Magpies boss forced to watch from the stand after a
touchline ban from four years earlier was invoked.
A wander to Everton's
home from next season (just over half an hour's walk from Goodison)
revealed it to be anything but impressive - reminiscent of a
supermarket or an Amazon distribution depot. If there's any
continental influence it's come from a German railway station. Let's
hope it's the best ground in the Championship. |
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Goals |
(35 mins Anthony Gordon missed a penalty - saved)
Half time: Toffees 0 Magpies 0
Full time: Toffees
0 Magpies 0
We Said |
Eddie Howe - managing his 300th PL game - said:
"I thought we played well today without the final most important bit.
They are a difficult team to contain. We were good with the ball until the final
action.
"I was a lot happier. Our best away performance in a long time. I thought
we controlled the game, I was pleased with the mentality. We can complain about
not winning but you have to look at the performance overall and it is much
better.
"I think we did look solid, that was our best defensive performance of the
season especially when you consider the opponent. Everton are difficult to play
against with a lot of direct players where one mistake against them can be
punished with the threat of the second ball and set plays but we dealt with that
really well - I was really pleased with that aspect of our play.
"I thought we were much better with the ball today so (that is)
a big step forward, I think that's the best we've been in the first two-thirds
of the pitch. We controlled the game, and created moments but missed the final
ball or the final action in attacking areas.
"That's the frustration when you have the defensive part there but not the
attacking part.”
On Anthony Gordon:
"Naturally he will be disappointed but a much better performance from him
today than here last year, I thought he dealt with the occasion well.
"I thought he handled that disappointment really well as I know from
personal experience not missing a penalty but making a mistake, the moment goes
against you and plays on your mind. It can affect you negatively.
"I think he will be fine. It's all part of his growth as a
footballer. It was emotionally charged and I think it will always be for him to
come here. I thought he handled himself well - I thought there was real
composure in his play.
Anyone can miss a penalty. It happens to everybody - I thought he did really well. He has his process, it has been brilliant for him, it is one of
those moments - a long wait for him to think about it and it is never easy. His
overall performance was very good.
"He really learned from last season's game and international experience.
There was a lot of pressure on him on that moment. He has been an outstanding
penalty taker so I have no issues with him taking it or taking them in the
future.
"We absolutely support him and he's been incredible for us and
tactically he gave them a problem."
On the absent Alexander Isak and Callum Wilson:
"You are always going to miss your strikers if they are not fit. If you
take any focal-point number nine out of team you are going to miss them.
"The two we have been missing are top players. They are both different but I think you could see elements of our game missing - that spark was missing - and in part that is down to them.
"Anthony (Gordon) has done incredibly well, the group have done incredibly well to play without them, but we will be delighted to get them back if we can - but there's no guarantee with that.
"The next two weeks hopefully we can see both of them in training and
hopefully they will be fit for Brighton. My belief is we would have a much
better chance if they were available."
On Goodison Park - and whether he'll miss visiting it:
"Probably not. Not from our games against them here....."
"It’s a difficult ground to come to. We’ve won here, we’ve lost here,
what I will say is the Everton supporters create a great atmosphere for their
team so it’s a difficult place to play.
"I think it’s an iconic venue. It’s
one of the stadiums that if you haven’t been to any football stadiums in
England, you’ve got to come to. This is a traditional, older-style stadium
that has, certainly over the years, had magic moments for Everton that have
contributed to their history.
"(I'm) Certainly, not from my side, disrespecting that, I think it’s
an iconic ground and will be missed in English football.
"From my own personal experiences, they haven’t, overall, been positive
as a manager and I always reflect back on the losses, so some painful memories.”
They Said |
Sean Dyche - who must have some Irish lineage, given the blarney he summoned up:
"I think (the
penalty incident involving Dominic Calvert-Lewin) is a bizarre one. Their penalty, I think it's a bit of toing and
froing but, at the end of the day, you can't do that, and we know
that.
"Then ours, the thing that I can't work out is that I see so many
weak penalties and then you see that and he is clearly
trying to strike the ball at goal.
"Their lad (Dan Burn), I don't think he can reach it,
he interrupts him striking at a goal. I just can't see anything other (than a
penalty) and they don't
even look at it. So, I don't know where it is with penalties.
"You know our
record is awful for getting penalties. I suppose this is one where I'd say,
if that's in the middle of the pitch, I think everyone in the stadium thinks
it's a foul. So then why isn't it? That's probably the easiest way of
putting it.
"Overall, I think the mentality is getting stronger. We've gone three unbeaten now and we've looked stronger in those games defensively because we're cutting out the mistakes and we're doing the basics better – the basic principles, the shape, the tactical understanding and the awareness, as well as the grit and determination to make sure we look after ourselves.
"The balance then becomes finding more of a threat up front and more of a threat going forwards. We did find pockets of that today and some chances and good chances, of course, but I think the balance is fair to say it's a good mini-run of three undefeated and five points out of those three games.
"I thought all of the team defensively gave us a big contribution. A lot has been made of the defensive side recently – and rightly so, but as I've said for a while, most of the time it's mainly been mistakes, too many mistakes and now we're cutting them out we're starting to look stronger again."
On the absent Jarrad Branthwaite and Vitalii Mykolenko:
"They're just coming out of injury, well, certainly Jarrad is. We're hopeful they'll be back for the next one. We'll have to wait and see on both of them, but we're hopeful of them being fit.
"We're carrying a thin squad and everyone knows we've had umpteen injuries recently, not all really serious ones, but missing one, two, or three weeks, and it's been a real challenge, that's for sure.
"We're patching the team together and we're still being careful with
some of the players who are playing to get that true match fitness. It will
come. This break is probably necessary at this time."
On Jordan Pickford:
"He has had his fair share of question marks this season. Part of the
resilience of being a top footballer is dealing with that and seeing it
through. That is part of what you do - he is a very good professional and (he
has) shown that with his performance today."
Stats |
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Newcastle have amassed 12 points from their opening seven PL games - a return that matches last season's start and hasn't been bettered since the 2011/12 campaign: 2024/25 12 points, 6th (GD +1
United
drew their first blank of the season after netting in each of
their first eight league and cup fixtures. That's their best
start since 2009/10, when they managed nine in all competitions. 2024/25 Drew 0-0 |
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Waffle |
Newcastle's final league visit to Goodison Park ended goalless,
after a frustrating Saturday evening when they dominated the
game and wasted what was their third penalty award
in as many games.
Anthony Gordon's 35th minute spot-kick was saved by the local mackem
minstrel and the Everton old boy missed a
gilt-edged chance in the second half as his current side again enjoyed a large
amount of possession but failed to create enough clear-cut chances.
The absence of Alexander Isak (and Callum Wilson) was telling as cross after cross fell to no-one in the six yard box
and when it did, the finishing of Joelinton and Gordon was anything
but clinical.
Having benefited from a VAR decision correctly ruling out Abdoulaye
Doucoure's header for offside, United were gifted a penalty when
James Tarkowski's senseless foul on Sandro Tonali was reviewed at
pitchside by referee Craig Pawson - who had ignored the offence
originally.
Having netted against Manchester City, Gordon was given the job of
scoring against his old club but his poor kick was comfortably saved
by Jordan Pickford.
Gordon continued to be our most dangerous player and when sent
through on goal in the second half he lifted his shot over the bar
when he seemed a certain scorer.
Nick Pope barely had a save to make and although Dominic Calvert-Lewin
kept Dan Burn and Fabian Schar busy he rarely looked like
threatening the goal - Burn again prospering in central defence.
Two points dropped for Eddie Howe's side then, when three were there
for the taking - regardless of what we've achieved this season in
points terms, any side with serious intentions of finishing near the
top of the table has to be leaving here with the win. Ashley Young
is 39 years old and looks it.
No goal from open play in three games was the most telling
statistic, along with failing to force Pickford into a single save
from no less than seven second half shots on goal from inside the
area.
The return of Isak and/or Wilson or the development of William
Osula cannot come quick enough - the former Blades striker among the
unused substitutes here, raising questions about the wisdom of his
purchase during a window when our spending was so limited.
The point was enough to see United move into sixth, but Brighton's
3-2 home win over Spurs on Sunday soon returned Howe's side to
seventh: ex-Magpie Yankuba Minteh netting his first Premier League
goal for the Seagulls, who visit Gallowgate in a fortnight.
At this stage, the like-for-like comparison with last season (same
points from the same number of games) shows that we're harder to
beat and with a better defence but a less potent attack.
There are signs that what seemed to be a collective averageness in
the squad so far is improving; Sandro Tonali's contribution evident
in a decent first half and the Brazilian duo both giving more
effective displays than of late.
Less thrilling was the negligible contribution of Joe Willock, but
the severity of his fitness troubles have been underplayed when
compared to Wilson - to expect an instant impact is unrealistic. The
jury remains out though when Harvey Barnes is better starting in the
side or on the bench.
After the colossal highs of Howe's time here so far when we
undeniably over-achieved in turning around a truly dire situation
before maintaining that momentum on an unprecedented scale, this
season continues to feel more mundane and lumpy; less flashy.
Hopefully the late year slump of 2023 when we simply ran out of
players won't be repeated this time round, but while others excite
themselves with new stadium chat, we're looking no further than what
a radically different administration can achieve in the January
transfer window.
To still be deploying Jacob Murphy as plan A and Miggy Almiron as
plan B hardly feels like progress.
Biffa