Thank you very much for joining me.
Here is Andy Hunter’s report from Goodison Park.
Jordan Pickford: “We know playing against Newcastle is tough. We grafted and we’re at our best, but we were resilient. We can show more quality going forward. To get a point and not lose is important.
“I watched the game against City and fancied him going to the keeper’s left and it’s come off my knee. He did not execute it perfectly.
“He tried to double bluff and I got the better of him.
“He asked me why I went that way and I told him because he’d gone right with the past two.”
Pickford and Garner were really good for Everton. Not really much else to discuss from Everton.
Chris Paraskevas emails: “When the Premier League broke away from humanity in the early 90s do you think they envisaged a late Saturday / Daylight Savings kick off three decades later that so devoid of quality that it might have cured my insomnia?
“Feels like two points dropped because of Gordon’s bad day at the office, but I think that might have just masked some familiar failings on the road: Newcastle didn’t ask enough questions of a team low on confidence, didn’t work Pickford anywhere near enough. They got what theh deserved and things could have been so much worse.
“Where’s Paul Mitchell at? Hopefully searching for a striker, assuming signing players is still allowed these days.”
I don’t think they will be selling the VHS in either club shop.
Full time! Everton 0-0 Newcastle
Newcastle will be left to rue the Gordon penalty miss and the fact they did not have a proper striker to finish all the chances they created. Everton will be very pleased to have a point.
Updated
90+3 mins: Calvert-Lewin is taken down by Schar around 35 yards from goal, earning the Swiss defender a booking.
90+2 mins: Everton have a chance to break but McNeil loses the ball before the counter gets going.
90 mins: Joelinton takes aim from around 25 yards but it foes nowhere near the net.
Four minutes added on.
88 mins: Tarkowski beats Joelinton to the ball on the right but then loses possession and the Brazilian sweeps in, only for the referee to give Everton a free-kick.
87 mins: Another chance for Newcastle as Almiron gets the ball in the box but his poked finish is very weak. What a fully fit striker would have done for Newcastle today.
86 mins: Willock tries to get the better of Garner but, once again, the full-back does very well to stop him. Are Everton holding on here?
John Davis says: “I thought it was a nailed on pen at first, but on replay Burn is running straight towards the ball and makes no attempt to impede DCL (for ease of typing). Burn gets kicked as he tries to shoot. Probably not a pen. What ever the ref sees gets given. I reckon it’s probably right.”
84 mins: Ndiaye does well on the right and lifts a cross to the back post; it just goes over Doucoure, which puts off McNeil who completely misskicks a volley.
Hall is booked for taking down Ndiaye.
Ross O’Connor emails: “With all the non-penalty kerfuffle nobody seems to have noticed that Gana Gueye should have buried the follow-up. Glaring miss.” It was a bad miss.
82 mins: WHAT A CHANCE! Gordon just stays onside to reach a neat Almiron pass, he is one-on-one with Pickford but whacks his shot over from close range.
Should Everton send on Lindstrom and Beto to liven things up? They look out of ideas in the final third.
Updated
80 mins: Fair play to Garner, he has really stuck at it as a right-back. The sort of player you want in your squad.
Andy Flintoff emails about the penalty: “Defenders get away with a lot if an attacker is shooting, but this was an exception - an early challenge rather than the late ones which normally go unpunished.”
I am sure Dyche will have strong views.
78 mins: Newcastle win their 10th corner of the match. Calvert-Lewin wins it at the front post and Gueye takes it clear.
76 mins: Garner wins the ball inside his own area and whacks it up the pitch … straight to Pope.
74 mins: Iroegbunam has slotted in alongside Gueye and Doucoure has moved into his ‘No 10’ gig.
72 mins: Everton fail to clear a cross allowing Almiron to shoot from inside the box but it hits the sidenetting.
More Newcastle changes: Trippier and Tonali off, Longstaff and Livramento on.
Updated
70 mins: The upside to the non-penalty is that the crowd are once again enraged and Everton are starting to up the tempo.
Trippier’s sat on the floor and he is heading off.
Subs: Harrison off, Iroegbunam on. Willock replaces Murphy for Newcastle.
68 mins: It’s all going off! Calvert-Lewin gets the wrong side of the defence and shoots from eight yards but Pope saves, the striker goes for the rebound but goes down under a challenge from Burn. Gueye fires over. VAR checks for a penalty. It looks like a pen to me but the bods say no. He kicks the back of Burn’s leg but if he is preventing a shot, then he is impeding him.
Updated
66 mins: Almiron is found by Trippier inside the box, he sends the ball across goal and Pickford is forced to turn it behind. Tonali flicks a volley from the corner but it is blocked and Everton clear.
64 mins: There is very little quality in possession from either team at the moment. This game has become scrappy.
62 mins: Pickford whacks a free-kick from just inside the Everton half straight out for a throw. Not the best.
Almiron is on for Newcastle, Barnes off.
61 mins: Gueye whacks a shot over from 18 yards, I think it ended in the second tier.
59 mins: Gordon is booed as he goes down the left. It looks like Barnes is down the middle at the moment.
57 mins: Gordon and Joelinton combine on the left and the ball is worked back to Guimaraes but he digs out a shot from underneath him and sends it well over.
Updated
55 mins: McNeil does his best to wake up the Everton fans by pinging a shot from 30 yards but it flies well wide. A stat pops up to show that as the first Everton chance since the Newcastle missed penalty. Bleak.
Everton are bringing on Gueye for Mangala.
53 mins: Ndiaye dribbles around 40 yards up the pitch but is then easily tackled by Guimaraes. The Senegal international has been relatively quiet thus far.
51 mins: Joelinton gets the better of Mangala down the left, he drives into the box but his pullback is blocked by Tarkowski.
Trippier takes the resulting corner which Everton just about survive after Pickford pushes the ball onto Joelinton.
49 mins: Gordon chips the ball to Joelinton at the back post, he lays it into the path of Tonali whose first-time shot from 12 yards is well blocked.
Everything about Everton at the moment seems quite passive.
47 mins: Newcastle have started with a high tempo. Everton need to up it here or they could be in trouble.
Second half
Here we go again!
Kári Tulinius says: “Both Everton and Newcastle are much more comfortable playing on the back foot, and since neither team has felt the need to get proactive, the match has felt very tentative. I hope that one of the teams will go for it, but suspect that both sides fear that committing men forward will mean getting done on the break.”
“We used to have a rule for penalties playing on the streets of Newcastle “Nae blasters”, and it’s good that Anthony Gordon is following that tradition,” says Brian Robson.
Half-time reading.
Half time: Everton 0-0 Newcastle
I would not say there has been a massive amount of quality but the disallowed goal and penalty save have brought plenty of entertainment. I would advise Everton improving after the break because they have brought little to the party.
45+6 mins: A lovely cross finds Gordon unmarked in the six-yard box but instead of heading for goal, he knocks it down for Joelinton who sends his effort over.
45+4 mins: Joelinton dribbles towards the edge of the box and goes down under pressure but it is certainly not a free-kick. Everton look happy to get to the break with the score goalless. Newcastle have had almost 90% in the past 10 minutes.
45+2 mins: Ndiaye does well to win the ball in his own defence third but then tries to dribble it up the pitch and loses possession. Gordon receives it in the box but is outnumbered and Tarkowski eventually whacks clear to end the attack.
45 mins: Six minutes added on. Cheers VAR.
44 mins: Another way to get the Everton fans going is to foul Gordon. Keane is the latest man to do it and everyone in blue moans at the referee.
McNeil is booked for a crude challenge on Guimaraes.
42 mins: Everton survive another corner as Pickford punches clear and Tarkowski does not wrestle anyone to the ground.
40 mins: Newcastle have, overall, been the better team here but have not looked like scoring from open play. They could do with an actual striker.
38 mins: The disallowed goal and penalty save has riled up the Everton fans. It might help give the hosts an extra edge.
36 mins: Goodison erupted when Pickford saved it. Tarkowski will be very very relieved.
Everton then survive a couple of corners as they look to find calm.
PENALTY SAVED! Everton 0-0 Newcastle
35 mins: Pickford dives to his left to repel former Toffee Gordon.
Updated
33 mins: PENALTY! I have no idea what Tarkowski was doing – there was no threat. Pawson awards it after looking at the screen.
32 mins: There is a penalty check for Tarkowski chucking Tonali to the ground. It is very much a foul and incredibly pointless from the Everton skipper. Pawson wanders to the screen.
30 mins: Barnes has a lot of space on the left and he is able to chip the ball to the back post. Young heads it behind for a corner, which concludes with Murphy curling a shot wide from the edge of the box.
28 mins: Gordon does well again, this time on the right and he crosses into a dangerous area but Everton scramble clear. One problem for Newcastle is there is not a central striker to finish those sorts of chances.
26 mins: Tarkowski chips the ball forward to Calvert-Lewin who chests it down on the edge of the box but he is forced backwards.
24 mins: A bit of a delay while the medics see to Garner who does get up and wanders off to the side. Looks like he took a knock to the head but seems fine.
22 mins: Gordon breezes past Doucoure in the box and moves into space but his pull-back is a poor one and Mangala intercepts.
A mildly bizarre moment as Barnes and Garner clash. Both end up on the ground and wait for a foul to be given but Craig Pawson does not think an offence has been committed and eventually Barnes gets up to dribble forward. Garner waits on the ground and requires treatment.
20 mins: What a deflating moment for Goodison Park. They were in raptures until the intervention of the lads at Stockley Park. Will it be extra-motivation or bring frustration?
NO GOAL! Everton 0-0 Newcastle
Garner whips in the cross and Doucoure wins the header, sending it over Pope but VAR sees he is half a yard offside.
GOAL! Everton 1-0 Newcastle (Doucoure, 18)
The midfielder flicks home the opener.
Updated
17 mins: Murphy fails to control a cross from the left when in a good position but then gets another go but his low shot is easy for Pickford.
“What a pity Newcastle’s famous black/white kit clashed with Everton’s that it forced them into wear the colours of Saudi Arabia,” says Gary.
Very much a non-existent clash.
16 mins: Calvert-Lewin receives a long pass around 25 yards from goal. He drives at the Newcastle centre-backs and shoots from the edge of the box but it is straight at Pope.
14 mins: Gordon spins inside the Everton half but is clipped. He gets up holding his hamstring but I assume it’s just an impact injury.
12 mins: It should also be said that on the previous set-piece Young was marking Burn, which sounds like a bad idea.
10 mins: OFF THE LINE! A Newcastle corner is flicked to the back post where Guimaraes is waiting. His volley beats Pickford but Ndiaye somehow blocks the shot on the line.
Updated
9 mins: Calvert-Lewin collects a long ball, takes a couple of touches and shoots wide but is then penalised for a high boot, which is a bit harsh considering Trippier is dipping his head down.
8 mins: Everton have a clear plan to be quite direct and take Newcastle by surprise with long balls out wide.
6 mins: Barnes gets the better of makeshift right-back Garner but his cross is blocked at the front post. There could be fun to be had for Newcastle wingers against Garner and Young.
4 mins: Pickford trots forward to take a free-kick from the halfway line. He lumps it into the box, Tarkowski wins the initial header but Pope comes out to punch clear.
2 mins: Tonali lifts the ball over Keane who takes him down inside the Newcastle half. There is, admittedly, next to no contact.
Kick off
Peep! Peep! Peep! Here we go!
The players are in the tunnel. Tarkowski gets a police escort before being greeted by former Burnley teammate Nick Pope.
Arsenal had to come from behind against Southampton.
“Staying awake while Daylight Savings officially starts - literally as I type and send this email - means I am effectively losing an hour of sleep as the local clock passes 2:00am and becomes 3:00am,” emails Chris Paraskevas.
“In order to counter sleep deprivation I’ve just had a second dinner (slightly undercooked cheeseburger) to ‘keep the motor going’. I just hope the players are as dedicated as I am to the cause.
“Our inconsistency collectively and individually this season has been infuriating: more than capable at our best and probably the competition’s most tedious at our worst.
“Time for Anthony Gordon to properly kick start his season with a star performance. (sorry, Mary Waltz!)”
I am sure this energetic fixture will focus the mind.
Leicester are up and running.
Pass the time by reading my work from this week.
Mary Waltz emails: “Greetings Will. Now that we are out of the relegation position I have decided to abandon my normal pessimism and dream of the coming sunlit uplands. New owner, new stadium coming, sure we are only a point out of the dumpster and injuries have taken out our promising youngster for today’s tussle with Newcastle I am going embrace a positive attitude (or denial if you want to get all technical about it.) “
Anthony Gordon is back at Goodison Park.
It is a blow that Branthwaite is missing once more after recently returning from injury. The Everton defence is miles better with him next to Tarkowski.
Pre-match reading.
Isak is missing again for Newcastle, leaving Gordon to lead the line. He will quite fancy upsetting his former employers, I am sure.
Everton (4-2-3-1): Pickford; Garner, Keane, Tarkowski, Young; Mangala, Doucoure; Harrison, McNeil, Ndiaye; Calvert-Lewin
Subs: Virginia, Begovic, Beto, O’Brien, Gueye, Lindstrom, Iroegbunam, Armstrong, Dixon
Newcastle (4-3-3): Pope; Trippier, Schar, Burn, Hall; Guimaraes, Tonali, Joelinton; Murphy, Gordon, Barnes
Subs: Odysseas, Ruddy, Krafth, Osula, Livramento, Almiron, Kelly, Willock, Longstaff
Preamble
There is some positivity back at Goodison Park after securing their first Premier League win over the season last time out. Furthermore, the end of their takeover saga is in sight. Sean Dyche is still not particularly popular with the Everton fanbase but is key strength is putting a run of results together and a second victory will give him a boost.
Newcastle have had a funny season of not playing particularly well but picking up results. Last weekend’s draw against Manchester City was well-earned point and they certainly have the firepower to cause teams problems and they will fancy their chances on Merseyside. A win would put them into the top four for 24 hours, which is a big incentive.
Let’s hope for a cracker.
Kick-off: 5.3opm BST
