Match Summary

Newcastle, warned David Moyes, are a wounded animal, having suffered at the hands of Man Utd and Inter in the last week, to the tune of nine goals conceded.  Everton, meanwhile, where the form team of the Premiership going into this one on the back of 6 league wins — the last five of them with the score of 1-0.

So it was a warming and pleasant sight to see Kevin Campbell chest down an inch-perfect long ball (aka "hoof"???) from David Unsworth after 17 mins, and poke it superbly beneath the body of the advancing Given to give Everton that winning scoreline again — a win that would take them to the heady heights of 2nd after Liverpool lost at home to Man Utd earlier in the day.

Or would it?  Only a few minutes later, and Bellamy was racing past Yobo, heading for the box.  A tug, a nudge, a trip?  Bellamy collapses; Yobo was the last man on: Red Card!  No complaints really.... unless your specs have a very blue hue.

The loss of Everton's talismanic Nigerian would surely be too much for even this hardened and supremely confident team to withstand?  Moyes took managerial control, immediately substituting Weir for Carsley, and it was backs to the wall for the rest of the game.

And that was perhaps the smallest of small mistakes, because the goal had shattered Newcastle, and Everton needed to go for the jugular — 10 men or not.  Despite Radzinski's tireless running Everton became shy going forward. 

Gravesen and Li Tie noticeably held back, rather than taking on the fragile Newcastle defence.  And at times it looked like Big Dunc was on the field, the number of time the Route One ball was hoofed up to Campbell running down the middle of the field.  Well, it worked once, didn't it?  And Campbell seemed to win every header, but Radz rarely got played in.

And so it went on.  Like some mammoth epic, with only one possible result as the Everton defence absorbed a barrage of poorly constructed and unimaginative attacks from a rather poor Newcastle.  Everton looked far better when they had the ball, but lacked the conviction to attack in numbers, and surrendered possession far too easily.  The Roonster came on and cameoed a little, but his only useful run ended in a firm block. 

And on 87 minutes, the massive dam that is Richard Wright was finally breached.  A forward ball headed across the box to Shearer, from where he volleyed an unstoppable shot, and the Toons could finally celebrate.  Just 4 more minutes and they would have been tearing out the seats...

A draw for Everton would not have been a bad result.  But the luck that had helped them for so long finally went the other way as Bellamy dodged two defenders and scampered along the goal-line, firing hard and low at Richard Wright from an impossible angle just as Li Tie powered in to block his shot.  But the touch was enough to push the ball up a fraction, and it careened off Wright's leg into the net. 

In such moments are Championships won and lost.  Wright had it covered, and he knew it.  But that final touch was enough and it was 10-man Everton who left the field crestfallen, having been denied a fantastic victory in the last 4 minutes.