Everton show their grit with impressive away win over Newcastle

Newcastle United have inflicted some painful defeats on Everton in recent years — who could forget the 4–1 drubbing at Goodison Park under Sean Dyche or last season’s defensive horror show at Bramley-Moore Dock? — but the Barcodes have been timely opponents at times as well, no more so than this past week.

The Blues followed up their handsome 3–1 Carabao Cup win from last Thursday with their third successive away win at St James’ Park to vault themselves up a tight Premier League table to seventh place with nine games played.

Thierno Barry was the match-winner in this fixture last season — also the last time David Moyes’s side had won away from home in the Premier League — and the Frenchman was on the spot once more to atone for an ungainly first-half miss by tapping home the only goal of the evening four minutes into the second half.

In truth, while Everton grabbed all three points despite a close call, where Anthony Elanga almost bundled home an equaliser midway through the second period and a late chance for Yoane Wissa that Jordan Pickford did well to save, they probably should have won this contest as convincingly as they did in the Cup.

Harrison Armstrong spurned a great chance to open his senior account for the Toffees and Lukáš Horníček was on hand to deny both Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Jake O’Brien as Everton put in arguably their best performance of the season.

Armstrong was back in the starting XI in spite of Hayden Hackney’s impressive display four days ago, with Moyes restoring O’Brien to right-back and pushing Merlin Röhl further forward into right-midfield at the expense of Tyler Dibling who, once again, didn’t get onto the pitch in a League fixture. Jarrad Branthwaite, meanwhile, was a welcome returnee to central defence after clearing Premier League concussion protocols.

With Matthias Jaissle under increasing pressure to bring some consistency to Newcastle’s performances and results and given the nature of the Magpies’ defeat on Merseyside last Thursday, Moyes was, no doubt, expecting a robust response and that was reflected in what was, on the face of it, a much more conservative line-up.

It didn't end up being that way, though; this was as enterprising as Everton have been in the League this season and had they had the same intensity throughout against Hull, for example, they wouldn't have had to wait this long for a first win on the road.

In front of their home crowd and with the likes of Joelinton and Anthony Elanga back in their starting XI, Newcastle did start with plenty of purpose, which made for a fairly even first 20 minutes without either side really coming close to scoring.

A good Everton move had ended with James Garner bouncing a shot well off target while Dewsbury-Hall screwed an ambitious and equally wayward effort towards Barry; at the other end, Harvey Barnes’s cross floated past the far post and James Tarkowski blocked Joelinton’s strike behind after KDH had squandered possession in midfield, a rare lax moment in an otherwise outstanding outing.

On balance, the visitors were on top, however, moving through the gears confidently at times and the clearest chance of the game thus far fell to Röhl who drove narrowly over from the angle from Barry’s lay-off in the 21st minute.

Barry should have opened the scoring three minutes later, though, when the ball sat up invitingly for him in front of goal but he somehow kicked more air than ball when a sure contact would surely have had the net bulging and Everton ahead.

He tried to make amends with an overhead kick that was blocked while Tyrique George leathered an effort over the bar and Garner fired a direct free-kick disappointingly into the defensive wall after Dan Burn had chopped Barry down on the edge of the penalty area.

Newcastle were, for the most part, disjointed and lacking in penetration and it elicited increasing displeasure from the home faithful which only temporarily abated when Jordan Pickford tipped a deflected Barnes' strike over his bar and Joelinton smashed an effort a yard wide from around 20 yards out.

The best chances continued to come at the other end where Dewsbury-Hall whipped a ball across the face of Horníček’s goal but, skipping off the turf, it arrived just too fast for O’Brien to steer it in with his head at the back post.

Then KDH, enjoying another impressive display to go with his performance at Hill Dickinson Stadium in the Cup tie, served Armstrong’s maiden goal on a silver platter by driving to the byline and cutting the ball back to near the penalty spot.

The youngster opened his right foot up too much, however, as his first-time shot sliced agonisingly wide of goal.

The breakthrough did come shortly after the interval, though, after Barry had been fouled in a dangerous area in Newcastle’s half. From the free-kick, Dewsbury-Hall slid a slide-rule pass between two defenders to meet the run of George who a fired low shot that squirmed under the goalkeeper leaving Barry with the simple task of knocking it into the empty net.

O’Brien came close to doubling the advantage when he met a deep Garner corner in the 57th minute but Horníček turned his header around the post before Dewsbury-Hall forced the Czech keeper into palming his dipping drive over.

With Jaissle first introducing Wissa and Steur and then Jacobs Ramsey and Murphy, Newcastle kept pushing and probing which lent Everton’s lead a disconcertingly fragile air.

Fabian Schär flashed a half-volley over on the hour mark but, in the 66th minute, St James’ Park erupted in anticipation of referee John Brooks signalling a goal when a Barnes cross found Elanga around the back but his connection caught the post and then bounced beyond Pickford onto the goal line before Tarkowski belted it to safety.

Schär was fortunate not to concede a 71st penalty when he went through the back of Barry to clear a Dewsbury-Hall cross but neither Brooks nor VAR Paul Howard saw anything untoward, even though the challenge left the striker prone in the box before he was eventually substituted by Moyes.

Everton, meanwhile, continued to defend resolutely in the face of desperate attacking from their hosts. Ramsey’s volley had Evertonian hearts in mouths as it flew just past the post, William Osula tried to steer a header on goal but it bent away from the target and Wissa failed to test Pickford with a daisy-cutter with five minutes left of the regulation 90.

It was Wissa who came closest to salvaging a point for the Magpies when Jaissle’s final substitution, Bazoumana Touré, advanced towards to the byline and squared it for the Congolese forward but Pickford was equal to his turn and shot, kicking it clear of goal as it came past sub Michael Keane’s back foot.

From then on through eight minutes of stoppage time it was just a question of Everton expertly managing the game, forcing free-kicks and timely throw-ins. There was time enough, however, for Ramsey to pick up two yellow cards in the space of a minute and a half, the second for an ugly challenge on Armstrong that could have been worthy of a straight red, to receive his marching orders and set the seal on another miserable night for the Barcodes against the elated Toffees.

As Dewsbury-Hall admitted to the Sky Sports studio afterwards, had Everton lost both this game and the one at Bramley-Moore Dock against the same opposition last Thursday, this week would have taken on a very different complexion.

As it is, they are through to the last eight of the League Cup, are back in the top half of the table and can improve their position further back on the Liverpool waterfront against Coventry City this Friday.