Andy Hunter’s verdict is in. Be about your business: clickity click! Thanks for reading this MBM.
Some straight talking from Everton captain Seamus Coleman. “It’s obviously a massive disappointment for us. You’ve got to outfight the opposition in this league and today Newcastle wanted it more, which for us isn’t good. But that’s what happened today. As a team, and as individuals, we weren’t up for the fight as much as Newcastle. Words are easy, but it’s all about actions. Ancelotti is not happy, but what happens in the dressing room will stay between us. Newcastle fully deserved it.”
A content Steve Bruce speaks to BT. “When you come here you have to play well to get something. We’ve seen signs against Villa and Leeds. Getting people back fit has been really important for us. But the way they went about their work today was excellent, because it’s been a tough few weeks to say the least, and that’ll give them confidence. We’ve played a certain way for a long, long time, to play deep and play on the counter, it’s something we’ve tried to work on and change. It was good to see them play well. All round, we had some really big players. They all played their part. When we’re all right, we know we’re OK!”
Callum Wilson, man of the match without question, talks to BT Sport. “It’s been a long time coming. We’ve needed to pull our fingers out, to be honest. We’ve shown glimpses over this run of playing better, but today it all came together, with the result as well. Games were going by, we were slipping down the league, we had four or five defeats which is not nice as a footballer. But today everyone to a man stood up to the challenge. I’m a bit disappointed I didn’t get a hat-trick. I’m critical of myself, and I’ll take the two, but should have had three! It was nice to get a performance for Steve Bruce, and for the fans at home.”
FULL TIME: Everton 0-2 Newcastle United
A brilliant win for Newcastle! Much needed, too. They’re still in 16th spot, but nine points clear of the relegation zone, their losing streak now a thing of the past. Everton meanwhile remain in seventh.
Updated
90 min +4: Wilson has been sensational from start to finish, and thoroughly deserves his two-goal haul. Newcastle deserve this result, too. They’ve played excellently this afternoon. A lot of it very easy on the eye, as well. Everton by contrast deserve nothing. They’ve been extremely poor.
GOAL! Everton 0-2 Newcastle United (Wilson 90 +3)
Newcastle break from the Everton corner. Saint-Maximin creams a pass up the left touchline to release Lewis into acres. Everton have committed everyone upfield, and there’s nobody back. Lewis curls into the middle for Wilson, all alone. He takes a touch and lashes the ball past Pickford to seal the points for the Toon!
Updated
90 min +2: Shelvey takes. It’s a decent whip, but always sailing over the bar. Everton go up the other end, Digne winning a corner out on the left. Newcastle deal with it. So much so that ...
90 min +1: Keane bundles Wilson to the ground. The Newcastle striker takes a professional amount of time to get back up. Free kick, the best part of 30 yards out.
90 min: There will be five added minutes.
89 min: First up, VAR checks a coming together off the ball between old pals Mina and Wilson. Nothing wrong with that. And there’s to be no upgrade on Hendrick’s yellow either. We play on.
88 min: Nothing comes of the corner, and Everton breathe again. They try to break upfield. Hendrick goes after a loose ball and plants his studs on Richarlison’s boot. Just a yellow, though VAR is going to take another look.
87 min: Shelvey plays a cute pass in from the left for Almiron, who slides Wilson clear. Wilson rounds Pickford on the left, but his shot from a tight angle hits the upright. The ball clanks off Mina and out for a corner. So close to sealing what would be a deserved victory!
Updated
85 min: It’s Newcastle’s turn to win a corner. Nothing comes of it, but they’re 60 seconds closer to ending their losing run with an unexpected win.
84 min: Darlow prepares to take the goal kick at glacial speed, and is booked for his cheek.
83 min: Digne crosses low from the left. Hayden blocks the ball onto Richarlison, and it flies out for a goal kick.
82 min: Corner for Everton out on the left. Darlow, a different man from the bag of nerves during the early exchanges, punches clear. Digne tries to return it spectacularly, but that one’s deep in the Gwladys.
80 min: James, quarterbacking from deep, tries to find Richarlison with a long pass down the middle. He does find him, though only by blootering the ball slap-bang in his startled face. A proper slapstick comic cut.
79 min: James is booked for a frustrated swipe at Almiron’s heels.
78 min: So having said that, Coleman weaves dangerously down the right and fires low into the mixer. Schar does extremely well to block with a telescopic leg, blue shirts lurking behind him.
77 min: Newcastle seem pretty comfortable right now. On the touchline, Carlo Ancelotti and Duncan Ferguson stare blankly at a spot exactly one thousand yards ahead.
75 min: Saint-Maximin diddles Keane with a breathtaking twist and spin. The spirit of Diego Maradona lives forever.
74 min: Everton respond through Calvert-Lewin, who drives down the left and wins a corner off Manquillo. But the visitors deal with the set piece easily.
GOAL! Everton 0-1 Newcastle United (Wilson 73)
Shelvey sends an outswinger towards Wilson, 12 yards out, level with the right-hand post. Wilson rises high, pivots, and steers a glorious header across the despairing Pickford and into the bottom left!
Updated
72 min: Hendrick wins a corner for Newcastle out on the right. And from that ...
Updated
70 min: So much for Everton’s second wind. They’re struggling to string more than a couple of passes together. Gomes tries to get things started by pushing a pass down the inside-left channel for James, but it’s too forceful and sails out for a goal kick.
68 min: Saint-Maximin’s first act is to send Hayden into space on the left. A corner’s won. Nothing comes from it.
67 min: Here comes Newcastle’s not-so-secret weapon. Saint-Maximin replaces the quiet Fraser. If Saint-Maximin has half the impact he had against Leeds, Everton will have a few problems to solve in the next 20 minutes or so.
65 min: James crosses from the right. Schar does well to divert the ball away from Richarlison at the far post. Gomes picks up the second ball and wins a corner, but the set piece is no good whatsoever. The first signs of an Everton recovery, though.
63 min: Wilson and Shelvey cause some more bother in the Everton box. Everton hold their shape, but they visitors are getting on top now. A change, then: Iwobi makes way for Gomes.
61 min: Hendrick’s work down the left earns a corner off Mina. Before it’s taken, Keane is booked for a foul earlier in the move. The corner leads to another from the right. Shelvey wants a penalty when his hook hits the nearby Doucoure on the arm, but the referee is quite correctly not interested.
60 min: Shelvey sashays away from two blue shirts in the centre circle and drives down the middle. His pass wide for Lewis isn’t so fancy, and the move breaks down. But after a slow start to the second half, Newcastle are beginning to find their rhythm again.
58 min: Manquillo and Sigurdsson accidentally kick each other while competing for a loose ball. Newcastle get the benefit of the decision. The free kick’s flung in from the right. Schar and Richarlison clatter into each other, the Everton man coming off worse, but after some medical attention he’s up and on his feet again.
56 min: After a fashion, the corner leads to some pinball in the Newcastle box. Calvert-Lewin tries to poke something goalward, but Clark blocks.
55 min: Calvert-Lewin cuts in from the left and curls powerfully towards the bottom right. Darlow fingertips around the post. Corner.
54 min: Lascelles goes down, but doesn’t make a fuss. He quickly leaves the field of play, to be replaced by Clark.
53 min: Space for Fraser out on the right. He curls into the centre for Wilson, who strides into the box ahead of the Everton back line! Wilson meets the ball first time, sending a sidefoot across Pickford and inches wide of the left-hand post. What a chance that was!
Updated
52 min: Everton are taking it smooth and slow. Yacht rock in football form.
51 min: Newcastle haven’t rediscovered their first-half verve yet. It’s all Everton, albeit with very little of the action unfolding in the final third.
49 min: Digne, out on the left, fires a diagonal pass to James, who cushions into the path of Calvert-Lewin. The striker has the ball at his feet, just inside the box. He can’t quite sort it all out, and falls over, hoping to get a penalty decision. We’ll never know about that, because it turns out James was a fraction offside.
47 min: Everton hog possession early doors. James slips wide left to Richarlison, who hooks into the middle, hoping to find Calvert-Lewin. Lascelles heads clear, just in time.
Everton get the second half underway. No changes, though Allan Saint-Maximin has been warming up.
Half-time advertisement. A big one later today. MBM to come, but for now ...
HALF TIME: Everton 0-0 Newcastle United
The teams trudge off. Newcastle will be happy with their neat, fresh football. Everton not so much. Big team-talks coming up. Nicely poised for some second-half fun.
45 min +2: Richarlison aims a forensic shot towards the top left. Inches wide and high. Frustration is written all over his face.
45 min: There will be three additional minutes of first-half action.
44 min: Everton try to play it out from the back. They get themselves in all sorts of trouble, Newcastle pressing high and hard. Hayden steals the ball on the edge of the box and takes a shot, but falls backwards in doing so. The ball dribbles apologetically to Pickford.
43 min: Lascelles is clipped by Sigurdsson, who jumped into a 50-50 with studs showing. Having just been booked, he needs to take care.
42 min: Newcastle take their sweet time over a free kick in their own half. The ref has a word with captain Lascelles, theatrically tapping his wrist.
40 min: James is down again, in the throes of agony. He’s been clipped on the foot by Hayden this time. There doesn’t seem to be too much in this one, though, and the referee waits patiently for the Everton man to get back up.
38 min: Newcastle are playing some very nice football. This time it’s Almiron who shows what he can do, bustling down the right a couple of times. One cross, hit on the turn while surrounded by blue shirts, was little short of sensational, though Lewis couldn’t take it down at the far stick, under pressure from Coleman.
36 min: Richarlison is this close to planting a curler into the top-right corner. Darlow was beaten, but the ball sails an inch or so wide.
Updated
35 min: Shelvey looks for the top right but welts the ball high over the bar. He has the good grace to hang his head in shame. Everton go up the other end, Calvert-Lewin flicking neatly to James, who enters the box from the right and bashes a shot into Darlow’s chest. A good game, this, now.
Updated
34 min: Wilson continues to shine. Some cute footwork deep in his own half earns some space and time to launch an attack. Newcastle ping it up the left wing, Hendrick and Lewis combining well. The ball’s slipped infield to that man Wilson, who spins Sigurdsson and is upended just to the left of the D. Sigurdsson goes into the book. It’s a free kick in a very dangerous position.
32 min: That was a fine reaction save by Pickford. Pure instinct. Wilson flashed that header at him from close range. The Newcastle striker looks in the mood today.
30 min: Hendrick whistles the corner towards Wilson by the near post. Wilson flicks goalwards. Pickford fingertips onto the crossbar and out for another corner. The second one is a non-event, but that’s the closest either side has come to opening the scoring.
Updated
29 min: An increasingly confident Newcastle are pinging it around nicely. Some very pretty triangles. Then suddenly Manquillo rakes a pass down the right for Wilson, who earns another corner, off Digne.
27 min: Mina isn’t happy at all. An ice pack is applied to his jaw. He’ll be good to continue but he’s quietly fuming. He gives Wilson a hard stare. This may not be the end of it.
25 min: Wilson shaves Mina’s chin with a brush of his forearm. He had a wee look at where Mina was before doing that. No great contact, but you could make an argument for intent. Neither referee nor VAR operative are interested, though.
24 min: Some lovely footwork from Wilson on the edge of the Everton box. He tees up Shelvey, to the right of the D. Shelvey looks for the bottom left. His effort is deflected, and looks to have beaten Pickford, but the ball squeaks wide of the post. Nothing comes of the resulting corner.
22 min: Iwobi races past Lewis down the right far too easily. His cross is eventually hacked clear by Lascelles. Everton come back at Newcastle through Richarlison, who has a bash from distance. It’s parried well by Darlow.
21 min: There we go, it’s that booking we were expecting for Shelvey. It’s for a late clip on James.
20 min: Lewis forces a corner down the left. The set piece is only half cleared. Almiron tees up Hayden, who has a belt from the edge of the D. It’s straight at Sigurdsson and blocked.
18 min: Digne crosses high from the left. Darlow claims confidently under pressure. That should settle those early nerves.
17 min: More space for Iwobi down the right. He scoops into the box but Richarlison is flagged offside. This match has so far been lively if not yet particularly exciting.
15 min: Iwobi drops a shoulder and zips in from the right. He’s clipped from behind by Shelvey. Fairly cynical, and Shelvey’s got to watch himself here. One more foul and you suspect he’ll be in the book. James swings in the free kick. The ball hits the top of the unsighted Mina’s head and sails harmlessly over the bar.
14 min: Shelvey curls it deep. Mina heads clear. Pickford hasn’t had anything to do yet.
13 min: Manquillo has been tidy down the right, too. He prepares to scoot past Digne and is unceremoniously checked. Free kick. Newcastle load the box. Shelvey to take.
12 min: Better from Newcastle, as Wilson and Hendrick combine crisply on the edge of the Everton box, Wilson seeing his shot deflected over for the corner. Everton deal with the set piece easily.
Updated
10 min: Shelvey pulls James down by the shoulder. The Everton star stays on the ground, grimacing awhile. Eventually he gets up, not particularly happy. The referee’s not interested in pursuing the matter.
8 min: Everton are clearly smelling blood. Digne crosses again from the left. Darlow punches out for a corner, though he’s not far away from clanking the ball into his own net. Nothing comes of the set piece, but Darlow needs to get it together and quick. He’s been all over the shop so far.
6 min: Darlow’s uncertain start continues, as he mishandles Digne’s cross from the left, letting the ball squirm away from him. It should have been a simple gather, but he needs to hack clear under pressure from Iwobi on the right. Very strange behaviour.
5 min: James curls from the left. It’s a peach of a cross, dropping towards Digne on the edge of the six-yard box. Darlow comes out to punch clear but flaps a bit. Digne’s header balloons over him and very nearly drops into the top right. Just wide.
4 min: Richarlison backs himself in a footrace with Lascelles down the left. He knocks the ball past the Newcastle captain and is cleaned out for his trouble. A no-brainer of a booking, in more ways than one.
2 min: Pickford blooters long. Darlow races out of his box to head clear, and is clattered late by Calvert-Lewin. The referee has a quiet word. A lively start by both teams.
1 min: Newcastle are on the front foot immediately, kicking towards the Gwladys Street Stand. Manquillo drives down the right and forces Sigurdsson into conceding a corner. From that, Hendrick attempts a snapshot from the edge of the box, but it’s easily blocked.
Newcastle get the ball rolling ... but only after the knee. There’s no room for racism. Kick it out.
The teams are out! Everton wear their famous royal blue. Newcastle could be in their equally iconic black and white stripes, but they’re not. It’s highlighter-pen yellow for the Toon. The early-60s jangle of Z Cars fills the air. We’ll be off in a minute or two!
And now Steve Bruce, explaining why he’s not starting with Allan Saint-Maximin. “He’s been idle for the best part of eight weeks, he wasn’t allowed to do anything. For a footballer, that’s obviously difficult. So we’ve got to gently ease him in. The one thing that we don’t want to do is risk him and suddenly he pulls a muscle. It’s good to see him back.”
Carlo’s turn. “We have two full backs that can push. We want to win and attack but it’s also true that we need balance. We have a lot of respect for Newcastle, they played really well against Leeds, they have a good manager. We focus, pay attention, three points!”
Everton assistant manager Duncan Ferguson has a chat with BT Sport. “It’s been a great atmosphere because we’re winning games. Carlo’s made a massive difference. We scored a lot of goals at the start of the season. The manager’s had a wee look and decided to be a bit more defensive maybe. But we still want to go forward and score goals. Stay positive, keep making the runs.”
More pre-match reading.
Pre-match reading.
Everton make four changes from the side that drew against Leicester City during the week. Abdoulaye Doucoure, Gylfi Sigurdsson, Alex Iwobi and Seamus Coleman return, while Mason Holgate, Ben Godfrey, Tom Davies and Andre Gomes drop to the bench.
Newcastle make just one change to the team that went down to Leeds United at home. Javier Manquillo takes the place of Jacob Murphy. There’s no place in the starting line-up for the exciting Allan Saint-Maximin, who looked sharp in the second half against Leeds.
The teams
Everton: Pickford, Coleman, Mina, Keane, Digne, Sigurdsson, Doucoure, Iwobi, Richarlison, Rodriguez, Calvert-Lewin.
Subs: Kenny, Holgate, Andre Gomes, Godfrey, Gordon, Davies, Virginia, Olsen.
Newcastle United: Darlow, Hayden, Lascelles, Schar, Lewis, Manquillo, Shelvey, Hendrick, Almiron, Fraser, Wilson.
Subs: Dubravka, Clark, Matthew Longstaff, Carroll, Joelinton, Saint-Maximin, Gayle, Krafth, Anderson.
Referee: Stuart Attwell (Warwickshire).
Preamble
Welcome to our coverage of the clash between the 1926-27 champions Newcastle United and the team that took their title away from them the following year. Oh, Dixie Dean, 60 goals in a season. Ah, Hughie Gallacher, 60 pints in a week. But sadly now is not the time for nostalgic reverie. There’s a match on in an hour.
Everton have title-race pretentions, and will leapfrog West Ham United into fifth place if they do the business this lunchtime at Goodison. There’s a fair chance of that with James Rodriguez in form; he scored an absolute peach against Leicester on Wednesday. Newcastle on the other hand are on an awful run, with no win since early December, relegation a very real possibility unless they gather themselves soon. Seven losses in the last nine matches, and one goal in the last four, don’t engender too much hope. But they did play some nice stuff in the second half against Leeds the other night, and if Allan Saint-Maximin is in the zone, you never know.
Kick off is at 12.30pm GMT. It’s on!
