A game that could have been won by either side. Yet in the end it was settled by Tom Cleverley’s last-gasp winner, just when it looked like we were heading for a goalless drawm and that goal moves Everton up to ninth place, above West Ham on goal difference. They’re six points off the top four. Newcastle had their chances but they stay in the bottom three, behind Norwich City on goal difference. Thanks for reading and emailing. Bye!
Full-time: Newcastle United 0-1 Everton
Everton have won it!
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GOAL! Newcastle United 0-1 Everton (Cleverley, 90+3 min)
Heartbreak for Newcastle United! They thought that they had escaped with a point after that Mbemba tackle, but it’s not to be! Leighton Baines curls the corner into the middle and it leads to a bit of a defensive mess. Elliot’s punch is poor and he’s stranded. The ball goes straight to Cleverley, hanging around near the edge of the area. He instinctively heads it back towards the unguarded goal and with no one covering the post, the ball loops in!
90 min+3: Chancel Mbemba makes a superb last-ditch challenge to stop Romelu Lukaku scoring the winner! Lukaku was through on goal, having beaten his man after getting the ball from Deulofeu, but Mbemba throws himself in front of the Everton striker just as he looked certain to score. But Everton have a corner. And...
90 min: There will be three more minutes.
89 min: Deulofeu wins another corner. I’m going to keep that sentence on file.
87 min: Florian Thauvin, disappointingly not wearing a tuxedo, replaces Ayoze Perez.
86 min: Baines swings it in, Lukaku is penalised for pushing.
85 min: Mirallas tries to create some mischief. He’s guided away from danger, before Deulofeu wins another corner on the right. Leon Osman replaces Mirallas before it can be taken.
82 min: Colback picks up a stupid booking for kicking the ball away.
80 min: Besic wriggles into the Newcastle area on the right. He’s halted by Coloccini, whose clearance is poor. Coleman dispossesses Wijnaldum and moves towards the edge of the area, but his fierce left-footer whizzes just wide.
78 min: Baines curls the corner into the middle, where Funes Mores has pulled away from Sissoko. His downward header is destined for the right corner, only for Elliot to dive across and push it out. What a save. Lukaku is lurking nearby, but the ball comes at him too sharply and he can only direct it over the bar.
77 min: Everton break from the Newcastle corner and win one of their own. Can they do anything with it?
76 min: Tim Howard makes a fantastic save to deny Wijnaldum! Colback darts down the right and lifts a cross to the far post. Wijnaldum is unmarked, but Howard somehow claws his header out and Perez’s follow-up shot is deflected wide.
73 min: What a chance for Mitrovic! Sissoko gallops down the left and hangs a cross to the far post. Mitrovic powers above Baines, but his header flashes inches wide!
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71 min: Elliot whacks a long clearance deep into the Everton half. Mitrovic uses his burly frame to hold it up for Perez, who zips away and fizzes a low shot not too far past the right post.
69 min: Everton make two changes, Gerard Deulofeu replacing Ross Barkley. Roberto Martinez has a quick word with a seemingly peeved Barkley on his way to the bench. Muhamed Besic is also on for Aaron Lennon.
68 min: Barkley goes on a power surge through the middle. His shot is blocked. But back come Everton, Lukaku chesting down to Barkley in the area. Again, though, his effort is blocked. That was probably goalbound.
65 min: Sissoko looks up and tries to thread a pass through to Wijnaldum. Coleman makes a crucial intervention.
63 min: Barkley is booked for tugging Wijnaldum back. Newcastle appear to have dealt with that flurry from Everton.
59 min: Suddenly Everton are laying siege to the Newcastle goal. Lukaku chests down to Lennon, who fizzes a low shot through Dummett’s legs, forcing Elliot into a sharp save. The ball is hacked behind for a corner on the right.
57 min: And this is better from Everton now. Barkley rolls a pass into Lukaku, who shuffles away from Mbemba and through on goal. He aims for the far corner with his left foot, but Elliot denies him with his feet again.
56 min: The dangerous Lennon jabs a low ball into the middle again. Cleverley arrives but his shot is deflected wide for a corner. Baines’s cross is headed away.
55 min: This is soporific. Everton should be better than this.
52 min: Newcastle win another corner, Coleman glancing a header behind. Perez sends it straight to Howard.
50 min: Newcastle probe for a while outside the Everton area. They don’t really appear to be going anywhere, until Perez races into the area and forces Lennon to concede a corner. It comes to nothing.
47 min: Everton are quickly on the attack. Lennon reaches the byline and slithers a cross into the six-yard box. The sliding Lukaku attempts to poke it in, but he can’t stretch far enough and the ball is hacked away.
46 min: Off we go again.
Half-time: Newcastle 0-0 Everton
That fizzled out.
45 min: Lennon stabs a cross into the area from the right, but Mirallas’s header goes harmlessly wide.
43 min: Mirallas’s free-kick takes a couple of deflections, making it a simple task for Elliot.
42 min: Lennon runs at Mbemba and skips past the Newcastle defender 30 yards from goal. Lee Mason keeps his cards in his pocket again.
41 min: Lukaku brilliantly flicks the ball to Barkley, who charges at the Newcastle defence. He’s got a long way to go, though, and he doesn’t have much support. But that doesn’t stop Janmaat from pushing him in the back. Janmaat is already on a booking and he’s skating on thin ice, but Lee Mason is lenient.
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37 min: Newcastle are improving. Sissoko bursts down the right and flings another cross into the area. Wijnaldum makes a late run and heads it wide under little pressure.
36 min: Barry is booked for scything down Perez on the right.
34 min: This game is drifting. It needs a goal.
31 min: Newcastle pump a long ball forward. Mitrovic is allowed a free header by the Everton defence and his flick-on almost finds Perez. However it just skips away from the Spaniard and Tim Howard smothers the danger.
29 min: Newcastle construct a rare attack. It comes down the right, which looks like their best bet. Mitrovic gets his head to Janmaat’s cross, but his effort drops wide. This has been embarrassingly one-sided, but Newcastle have threatened with a couple of crosses. Everton need to be more ruthless. Their defence probably isn’t good enough to keep them safe.
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28 min: Lennon drifts inside from the right flank and plays a lovely ball through to Lukaku on the right. He’s away and he bustles into the area, but Elliot saves Lukaku’s firm low drive with his feet. On further viewing, by the way, it looked like Lukaku should have had a penalty in that previous attack.
27 min: Cleverley clips a ball into the area for Lukaku. He bullies Coloccini off the ball, but he can’t get it under control and an unsightly mess ends with Elliot mopping up the danger. There’s a claim for a penalty, Coloccini seeming to pull Lukaku down, but nothing’s given. It was a fairly desperate challenge from the Newcastle defender.
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25 min: Newcastle mount their first coherent attack and almost take the lead. Sissoko finds Janmaat on the overlap and he produces the first decent cross of the game. Mitrovic throws himself at it at the near post, but he’s edged off course by Coleman, who just does enough to unsettle the Newcastle striker. Everton counter and Lukaku drags a shot well wide from 25 yards.
24 min: Lennon brilliantly nutmegs Dummett on the right, but his cross is lacking. Cleverley then balloons one over for a goal-kick. A recurring theme.
22 min: A lull.
19 min: Every loose ball is going to an Everton player. Lukaku shuffles a pass to Mirallas on the edge of the area. He swerves sharply and shoots, but it’s straight at Elliot. Everton really to capitalise on this start.
18 min: There is anxiety inside St James’s Park. “Is the old world order about to be restored this weekend, after 17 weeks of at least one away team winning ( usually Leicester ) Santa has decided to give back some pride to home teams ( even allowing Chelsea to draw at home),” honks Raymond Reardon.
17 min: “I can remember going to see Newcastle (my team) at Chelsea on Boxing Day 1959 as a nipper with my dad,” says Kevin Ryan. “It was an atrocious day and rained non stop (how things have changed). Jimmy Greaves scored his usual couple against United early on but they recovered to earn a draw through Len White and Ivor Allchurch. They had some decent players then........”
16 min: Newcastle can’t get out of their final third.
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15 min: Coleman crosses from the right. Lukaku challenges for it, but Elliot punches it away.
12 min: This is astonishing dominance from Everton. Now Lukaku speeds down the right channel, isolating Coloccini and beating the Newcastle captain with a stepover. He gets to the byline but his low centre is cleared.
11 min: Daryl Janmaat is booked for fouling Gareth Barry at the start of an Everton counter-attack.
10 min: Some superb one-touch passing from Everton leads to Barkley slipping a pass through to Coleman on the right of the area, Newcastle totally cut apart. He tries to slide it across to Lukaku but his aim is awry and Janmaat cuts out the cross. Wasteful from Coleman.
9 min: Mirallas turns and curls a pass over the top to Lukaku, who’s in space on the right. He’s forced wide, but he gathers possession and runs at Dummett, pushing the left-back into the area. However Dummett stands up well and Lukaku falls too easily as he tries to work the ball on to his left foot.
8 min: Newcastle break forward for the first time and Sissoko is sent tumbling by Coleman on the right. He escapes without a booking and Howard easily collects Colback’s free-kick.
7 min: Newcastle are hanging on here. A ball from Coleman finds Mirallas at the far post. He takes it down on his chest and angles a shot towards the near post, only for Elliot to save with his feet. Nothing comes from the corner.
6 min: Leighton Baines fails to score a stunner this time. His effort drifts over.
5 min: Everton have started strongly. Lukaku holds the ball up and tries to turn 25 yards from goal, forcing Coloccini to hack him down. Everton have a free-kick. Leighton Baines scored a stunner here a couple of years ago.
4 min: Emails please!
2 min: Everton mount some early pressure, winning a couple of free-kicks. They’re both dealt with and Newcastle win a free-kick of their own when Cleverley boots Mitrovic into the air on the edge of the area.
And we’re off! Everton, kicking from right to left and wearing their blue shirts and white shorts, get the game underway. You know what Newcastle are wearing.
Here come the teams! Do you prefer Blaydon Races or Z Cars?
The teams!
Newcastle United: Elliot; Janmaat, Mbemba, Coloccini, Dummett; Sissoko, Anita, Colback, Wijnaldum; Perez, Mitrovic. Subs: Darlow, Mbabu, Tiote, Gouffran, Toney, De Jong, Thauvin.
Everton: Howard; Coleman, Funes Mori, Stones, Baines; Barry, Cleverley; Mirallas, Barkley, Lennon; Lukaku. Subs: Robles, Gibson, Kone, Besic, Deulofeu, Osman, Galloway.
Referee: Lee Mason.
Hello. Less than enthralled with a game of Trivial Pursuit on Christmas Day, I retreated to an empty room and located an episode of Premier League Years. 2013/14 edition, Everton v Newcastle, Ross Barkley steaming the length of the pitch, players wearing black and white shirts jumping out of his way, the ball crashed high into the net. What an awesome sight. “That is Ross Barkley,” Roberto Martinez beamed. “Not many players can score that goal. Running with that power and strength, Ross is technically as good as you get but has the physicality to go with it. It typifies what he is.” What an exciting young Everton said! Must have been going places.
Yet they missed out on Champions League football that season, pipped by Arsenal at the last after a couple of dodgy results at home, and they’ve not managed to push on since then. Last season was forgettable, their exertions in the Europa League leaving them exhausted, and supporters were calling for Martinez’s head this time last year. Things settled down as the season wore on, but Everton continue to frustrate, brilliant one moment, maddeningly frustrating the next.
Barkley still looks like a future world beater, Romelu Lukaku is scoring goals for fun, John Stones is silky, Gerard Deulofeu is wonderful and the rest of the squad isn’t too shabby at all. Finishing in the top four shouldn’t be beyond them. Problem is they’re not ruthless enough sometimes and the constant criticism of Martinez is that his sides simply give away too many cheap goals. Everton are in the bottom half and they’ve not won in four league games, drawing with Bournemouth, Crystal Palace and Norwich City and losing to Leicester. There’s a lot of untapped potential at Goodison Park. This week brought news of potential investment from the US. It could be a false dawn. But that yearning for the success that has eluded them for so long means that Everton’s fans might allow themselves to dream in their optimistic moments.
Newcastle know the feeling. It’s a long time since they’ve won anything and their supporters really aren’t very fond of their always charming owner, Mike Ashley. What they’d give to see someone come in and buy him out, but they’re stuck with him for now. St James’s Park has been a miserable place for a long time and it’s worth looking back at Everton’s last visit to Tyneside. It was Alan Pardew’s final game in charge before he took the Crystal Palace job and Newcastle won 3-2. Pardew went - on to better things, it’s fair to say - and Newcastle put John Carver in charge. Well.
Still, there are signs that they’re getting their act together under Steve McClaren now. They’ve had a couple of horror shows this season, but they’re unbeaten since the 5-1 defeat at Crystal Palace on 28 November, beating Liverpool and Spurs and drawing with Aston Villa. That’s three whole matches without anything stupid happening! A few more results like that and they’ll be tentatively looking at mid-table. But you never know with Newcastle. Thing is, you never know with Everton either.
Kick-off: 5.30pm GMT.
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