Even the latest goal in a Premier League game for 18 months was not the end of the remarkable, ridiculous drama. As the scorer of more than 300 goals, Frank Lampard is sufficiently accustomed to celebrating that he ought to be able to do it safely but Alex Iwobi’s 99th-minute winner prompted such delirium that his manager broke his hand bouncing around in joyful abandon. Lampard’s bones may have cracked but Everton’s season might have been revived on a night abounding with the surreal.
Down to 10 men, without a league goal, let alone a victory, since early February, on a run of four straight defeats, they required a rescuer and found an improbable hero. Iwobi ranks among the worst buys of the Farhad Moshiri era but if terrible signings account for their plight, one may have changed the course of their season. For once, they could reflect happily on his £28m move from Arsenal. Three seasons into an Everton career that had produced top-flight goals only against Wolves, Iwobi showed every misfit can have his day.
Allan’s dismissal appeared to have ended their chances of victory in a must-win game but then the Nigerian exchanged passes with Dominic Calvert-Lewin and displayed a predatory instinct he has often kept hidden in his time at Goodison Park to slot a shot past Martin Dubravka. Goodison was euphoric. For Lampard, the agony was to follow the ecstasy. “I did it in the celebrations of the goal,” he said. “I think I just connected with something and then I realised about two minutes later my hand was shaky. My bones must be going soft.”
Yet even an Iwobi strike was not the strangest goalmouth action of the night. The reason the game spanned 106 minutes was a lengthy hold-up after an eco protester tied himself to a post. It prompted quips he had spent longer in the penalty box than many an Everton attacker while a steward emerged with bolt cutters to remove him. “I have never seen anything like that,” said Eddie Howe.
Perhaps Newcastle, the better side before the break, lost their momentum then. “The second half is a big disappointment for us,” Howe said. Yet if quality was rationed, commitment was evident from Everton. Just a third win in 21 league games stemmed from a third clean sheet since September.
The recalled Michael Keane showed a solidity he has lacked of late while inspiration stemmed from leaders on and off the pitch. Everton were buoyed by a half-hour talk by chairman Bill Kenwright on Wednesday and a tour de force from their captain. Seamus Coleman won the challenge to set up Iwobi’s goal and provided two of the abiding images, first in outpacing Ryan Fraser to make a last-ditch challenge in the first half. If it was scarcely the quickest race Goodison has witnessed, Coleman was seen sprinting again at the final whistle, hurtling towards the Gwladys Street End in celebration. “He is a legend of this club,” said Lampard.
He could claim some of the credit for his second league win, sending on the influential Calvert-Lewin. Newcastle had their own impact substitute in Allan Saint-Maximin, who was caught by Allan, in a late and cynical challenge. The Brazilian was booked by Craig Pawson but the card was upgraded to a red after the VAR, Stuart Attwell, instructed him to review the incident on the monitor.
“It is a strong yellow,” argued Lampard, who called for specialist VAR officials. Everton could have crumbled. Instead, they were galvanised by a sense of injustice. “We were all waiting for this.,” said Lampard. “A night of togetherness and fight and spirit. We got what we deserved, against the odds.”
