Richard Jolly's match report
Lampard's reaction
First up, the manager reveals that he broken his hand during the celebrations! “It was an amazing night! There was spirit and togetherness. It wasn’t a need for quality, it was all about spirit. Some players really stood up tonight. Seamus Coleman led by example.”
About the red card, he complains about the lack of consistency and says he doesn’t think there was a clear and obvious error to justify the referee turning the original yellow into a red. “No one at the minute has the balls to say ‘you know what, I stick by my decision’.”
On the rare clean sheet, he explains it was down to “By grit, defenders defending and the team understanding when we can win the ball higher.”
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Coleman's verdict
“It’s a great atmosphere in the dressing room. A lot of us have been questioned in the last few weeks, and rightly so, but we have good characters in there. We’ll enjoy this tonight and then move on ... We’ve been guilty in the past of getting good results and then getting a bit sloppy in the next game - we can’t let that happen.”
Full-time: Everton 1-0 Newcastle
Matches like this can change the course of a season. Everton were down on their luck, down to 10 men and short of ideas ... a 0-0 seemed to be the best they could hope for ... and then Iwobi produced a superb late winning goal. It was the finest piece of play they mustered in the match but rewarded a wonderful spirit. Now Everton are three points above the relegation zone, and evidently they’re full of belief. And Goodison Park is rocking!
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90+14min: Begovic flaps at the corner ... but the ball ricochets off Wood and out for a goalkick. Everton fans rejoice!
90+12 min: Boooooooooos reverberate around the ground as Newcatle try to rumble forward and ruin the home team’s night. Saint-Maximin wins a corner...
90+9 min: Coleman won the ball brilliantly off Saint-Maximin in midfield and then shunted it on to Iwobi, who stormed forward, swapped neat passes with Calvet-Lewin and then kept his cool to slot it past Begovic from 12 yards! A superb and precious goal in the circumstances - and Goodison Park goes gloriously berserk!
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GOAL! Everton 1-0 Newcastle (Iwobi 90+9)
What a brilliant goal! What a huge goal!
90+6 min: A cross from the right by Murphy - I missed him coming on - finds Saint-Maximim, but the Frenchman’s downward header bounces wide.
90+5 min: Everton are doing more than hang on: they’re still pushing for the win. Newcastle sure aren’t making the most of their numerical advantage. “Evening Paul. After reading your comment about awarding red cards for stopping attacks, I think you should prepare yourself to be in receipt of a ‘Cease and Desist’ letter from Fernandinho’s and Rodri’s lawyers.” Legislate such deeds out of the game!
90+2 min: After mayhem in the Everton box, featuring two crucial blocks by defenders, Everton charge down the other end ... and there’s a huge roar for a penalty when Gordon goes down under a challenge by Guimaraes. But the ref rightly rules that the forward through himself into his opponent. No penalty.
90 min: As Begovic makes a fine save to deny Willock, the fourth official reveals there will be FOURTEEN minutes of added time. Factor in the red card and the protester who tied himself to the post, and that makes sense. Everton have some hanging-on to do ...
87 min: Everton substitution: Gomes on, Richarlison off. For what it’s worth, I wouldn’t have given Allan a red card if the rules allowed me (the fictional ref) to award a penalty instead: there has to be a harsh punishment to discourage players from simply aborting an attack.
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85 min: That’s how things are going for Everton this season. Just as they were starting to threaten, they lose the head and undermine themselves.
Red Card!
Referee Craig Pawson is advised to have another look at Allan’s tackle on Saint-Maximim on the pitchside monitor. It was wild and cynical ... and the ref decides that, actually, it deserves a red. Allan can’t really have any complaints .... but he complains vehemently, all the same.
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81 min: Allan booked for chopping down Saint-Maximin to sabotage a counter-attack. There’s a Var review to determine whether a red would be more fitting...
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80 min: Everton stream forward. Gordon zips it over to Richarlison on the right. The Brazilian slams the ball acxross the face of goal ... Calvert-Lewin slides in to meet it ... but misses by centimetres!
79 min: Beautiful burst by Gordon, skipping past Willock and unleashing a fierce swerving shot from 20 yards. Dubravka parries it, and then punches the corner away.
78 min: Gordon fires the freekick straight at the wall. It deflects off Burn and out for a corner.
77 min: Krafth clatters Richarldison at the edge of the box. Gordon rushes over to push him: both players get booked. And Everton have a freekick in a very promising position, a yard outside the box, three yards to the left of the D.
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76 min: Everton substitution: Calvert-Lewin on,Gray off.
75 min: The game has become even more scrappy.
73 min: Gray’s outswinging corner. Burn heads clear. But the pressure from Everton is growing... can they find some sharpness at last?
71 min: Newcastle substitutions: Saint-Maximin on, Almiron off.
68 min: Important block by Burn at the edge of the area, from a shot by Gray. Then Almiron hurtles down the other end, zooming down the right, past Godfrey and into the area. Then he pulls it back for Guimaraes, whose slightly scuffs his shot from 10 yards. That gives Begovic the time to dive to his right and claw it away.
67 min: Richarlison is down injured following an off-the-ball shove in the back from Burn. Var has reviewed it but decided it wasn’t violent enough to justify any sanction. By the way, Andrew Arrojo writes in to say: “The man who zip-tied himself to the post was wearing a ‘Just Stop Oil’ t-shirt.”
65 min: Krafth has a volleyed pop from 20 yards. The shot is well controlled but straight at Begovic.
64 min: Richarlison barges into Burn on half-way rather than try a legitimate aerial challenge. Then he looks aghast when he’s given the yellow card he was practically asking for,
61 min: Coleman battles for the ball down the right and digs out a decent cross. Gray, on the turn, lashes it over the bar from 15 yards.
59 min: Richarldison tries to race past Burn down the left. He knocks the ball past him and chases .... and then, when realising he may not get it, throws himself to the ground. The ref a’int fooled. As an expression of Everton’s limitations, it was flawless.
57 min: Play has resumed. “Removing that protester should have been a job for Duncan Ferguson, no?” suggests Gary Naylor.
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55 min: The man has been cut free but is not making it easy for stewards to remove him from the pitch - he flops to the grass. They have to carry him off with help from a policeman. Someone else emerges from the crowd to apparently vent his frustration with the protester, and he too is then led away.
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52 min: The cameras are taking care not to show anything that would tell us what the intruder is protesting about: they don’t want to encourage other would-be protesters, see. I’m be curious to know, though. He looks perfectly calm as the stewards try to cut him loose.
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49 min: There’s a pause in play because someone has entered the field and locked themselves to a goalpost, by the neck. Stewards are trying to prise him away but it’s not easy: so here comes a man with a big bolt-cutter.
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47 min: Everton came out with a lot of gusto but failed to build anything coherent. When Newcastle get the ball, Schar goes long for Wood, who nods it down for Willock. The midfielder swivels and shoots from 15 yards, but doesn’t catch the ball cleanly. Begovic saves easily.
46 min: No personnel changes during the interval.
Half-time: Everton 0-0 Newcastle
It’s been feisty and entertaining. But Everton haven’t yet been able to summon the quality up front to translate their admirable gumption into a goal threat. Newcastle have looked more dangerous. But Everton could still get the victory they crave. Calvert-Lewin will surely be introduced at some point in the second half ...
45 min: Guimaraes sends Krafth cantering down the right. Wood is in the centre waiting for a good delivery. Krafth doesn’t provide one.
43 min: Gordon gets a standing ovation from the crowd - and his manager - for a good honest meaty tackle in midfield on Fraser, from which the youngster emerges with the ball. That’s the spirit!
42 min: The noise abates a Newcastle take their time delivering a freekick. Eventually Targett swings it in. Coleman clears.
40 min: Everton have got the crowd excited again after a lull mid-way through this half: the atmosphere is superb!
39 min: Everton are working up a real head of steam. But again their attack unravels with a slack pass.
37 min: Gordon does well to create a shooting chance for himself at the left-hand corner of the Newcastle box ... but he botches his kick on the run and falls over.
34 min: You can’t fault Everton’s attitude: they’re fighting for all their worth. But they’re lacking invention whenever they get into promising areas.
31 min: Doucoure is pestered into giving the ball away in midfield. Targett plays in Joelinton on the left-hand side of the box. Holgate rushes across to deflect the cross behind for another Newcastle corner. This setpiece, like the previous ones, causes plenty of problems in the Everton defence but Keane eventually clears it under pressure.
29 min: Schar spots Begovic off his line and tries to lob him from miles out. It’s a good effort but the keeper backpedals and catches it, then chews his gum nonchalantly.
27 min: Fraser’s corner is headed over the bar by Wood from six yards. It’s clear he’s got the beating of Keane in the air.
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24 min: Targett’s wicked inswinger is flicked on at the near post, and put out at the back one by Holgate. Another corner: the pressure from Newcastle is building ...
23 min: Begovic’s punch from an incoming corner only reaches Almiron at the edge of the area. Almiron’s blast is deflected behind for another corner.
22 min: Newcastle knock the ball around with composure, Guimaraes running things with crisp, progressive passing. Joelinton is looking good, too, but he’s dispossessed after scampering into the home box.
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20 min: Everton threaten for the first time in a while. Richarlison makes good ground down the left and then fires in a cross. Doucoure, bursting into the box, just fails to get on the end of it.
18 min: Willock releases Fraser through the middle. But Coleman hares back to poke the ball off the foward’s foot before he can shoot from the edge of the box.
16 min: A long freekick into the Everton box is headed away by Keane. It drops for Fraser, who tries to blem it back into the net from over 20 yards. Instead he squirts it wide.
15 min: Newcastle are in the ascendancy, looking the more accomplished and dangerous side. From Everton, it’s all a bit harum-scarum.
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13 min: For all their energy and noble intent, Everton are really short on creativity.
11 min: Wood finds space between Keane and Godfrey to meet a cross from the left. But his header lacks power and is saved comfortably by Begovic.
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10 min: A lovely ball by Guimares into the channel finds Krafth, who hammers it low across the face of goal from the right. Godfrey does well to clear before Wood can get to it.
9 min: Allan plays a pass with the outside of his boot from deep, looking for the run of Gordon. But it’s overhit, and reaches Dubravka before the foward can get to it.
7 min:Newcastle try to draw the bite out of their opponents by circulating the ball for a bit, to a soundtrack of boos from the home crowd.
5 min: Gray’s corner is useful one. Godfrey jumps well to a get a strong header on it, about 10 yards out. But it’s straight at Dubravka.
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4 min: No trace of a lack of confidence from Everton in the opening minutes. They play their way slickly past the visitors’ press and release Gray down the left. He lays a clever ball across the face of goal, but there was no one there to meet it.
2 min: It’s been a frenetic start amid a fervent din. The home crowd are up in arms when Krafth pushes Gordon out of play as both challenged for the ball by the touchline. Freekick to Everton.
1 min: Everton v Newcastle is go!
“Today is the first day of the NCAA Basketball Tournament,” announces Joe Pearson. “Games all day long! Now that I’m retired I don’t even need to take vacation to spend all day on the couch. That said, this Everton Newcastle match is, surprisingly, more important to me. I have no dog in the fight, but the idea of Everton going down presents an existential quandary. If Everton are not in the top division, does it really exist?” Only if Everton are replaced by Huddersfield.
The teams march out to raucous acclaim from both sets of fans. The driving rain isn’t dampening the atmosphere one bit.
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“I have been the prophet of doom all season regarding my Everton squad,” chimes in Mary Waltz. “I have decided for this week I would go the Ted Lasso route and believe. Mind you, I did not bet a penny on this fixture.”
“Hi Paul, this match seems less important than it did a few weeks ago,” notes Edan Tal. “Can we classify it as a relegation four-pointer?” Arf!
Lampard's pre-match pep talk
“Jordan Pickford and Donny van de Beek are not well. Dominic [Calvert-Lewin] is just shy of real fitness, he’’s only been training with us for a couple of days. We need freshness and everyone to be at their best physically tonight. We need everyone to be on point.” Asked that inevitable question - is this a must-win match - he replies, quite sensibly: “No, because there is a lot of game to go. But we badly want to win it.”
Howe's pre-match thoughts
“I’m delighted to have a few players back from injuries and injury. It’s a strong-looking squad today, I’m pleased. It’s hugely important to get Joelinton back into midfield - he’s been pivotal to our recent success as a team, with his work on and off the ball. Today is a big match - we want to get to 40 points as soon as we can.”
“If we lose tonight, I think that’s it,” sniffs Mike, presumably an Everton fan. “But we at least better go down fighting, especially tonight.”
Teams
More misfortune for Everton as Donny van de Beek and Jordan Pickford aren’t fit enough to make the squad today. But Dominic Calvert-Lewin is back on the bench, at least. Newcastle make four changes to the side that lost narrowly at Chelsea - their first defeat in eight matches - and look like they’re reverting to a back four, too.
Everton: Begovic; Coleman, Keane, Holgate, Godfrey; Doucoure, Allan; Iwobi, Gordon, Gray; Richarlison
Subs: Alli, Calvert-Lewin, Gomes, Lonergan, Mykolenko, Patterson, Rondon, Townsend, Tyrer,
Newcastle: Dubravka; Krafth, Schar, Burn, Targett; Guimares, Joelinton, Willock; Almiron, Wood, Fraser
Subs: Darlow, Dummett, Gayle, Lascelles, Longstaff, Manquillo, Murphy, Ritchie, Saint-Maximin
Referee: C Pawson
Preamble
Hello. To think of a time when Everton were not in the English top-flight, you have to cast your minds back to a time when English roads had no zebra crossings, English cities had no tower blocks, no earthling had ever been to space, the Beatles had not yet been formed and Vladimir Putin had not yet been born. Very different times, in other words. But Everton’s run in the Premier League could end in a couple of months if they don’t get themselves together pronto. They are above the relegation zone on goal difference only and, yes, they have matches in hand on the teams below them but whether they can win any of those matches is very much in doubt.
Everton have 12 games left: in their last 12 they’ve mustered seven points – taking the same amount from their remaining dozen would give them a final tally of 29 points: that will only be enough to survive if – and it’s a small if – Burnley, Watford and Norwich are absolutely useless. So Everton need to improve. Maybe that can take inspiration from Newcastle’s recent form (19 points from the last 24 available), albeit without the injection of new players and confidence. Newcastle aren’t quite free of peril yet but they’re in a far better mood and position than they were, and a repeat of the 3-1 win they enjoyed over Everton at James Park five weeks ago could see them right. The stakes are high at Goodison Park, the heat is on. All aboard!
