We wuz robbed. No two ways about it. The first goal was gifted to Newcastle by total incompetence of the match officials who conspired to give Ameobi onside despite him being clearly and indubitably offside for the entire move of a free-kick after 15 minutes of this game. Everton had executed a well-disciplined and well-timed forward movement of the back line to put at least three Newcastle attackers offside... but all to no avail as the dopey linesman failed to call it and Ameobi had plenty of time to check in with the linesman before poking the ball in off Howard. The episode just demonstrates what a disgrace the officiators of the game have become, and how the game is being ruined by these so-called 'professionals'.
But all that aside. this was a game there for the taking, and Everton should have taken it, even with the huge disadvantage of that dreadful opening goal that shouldn't have been. Everton started poorly and it was a distinctly nervy 15 mins prior to the Ameobi goal, with Cahill unnecessarily putting himself under needless pressure by getting a yellow card after just five minutes with an utterly stupid lame kick out a Newcastle player who had dared to hassle him.
But Everton went on to put in a superb defensive display against a very lively and threatening Newcastle attack that looked at times in the first half like it could walk through and score at will. Some brilliant defensive work by Yobo and most impressively of all, Lescott, kept the Everton goal intact throughout an absorbing second half of end-to-end attacking football.
Everton's goal a little before half-time was a classic far-post header from Tim Cahill, executed to perfection off an Arteta cross just as Newcastle threatened to consolidate on their gifted opener. And all through the second half, there were so many moments when you expected that the good football Everton were playing would result in a decent chance being created. But sadly, those chances on goal were few and far between, with the nervy stand-in goalie (Harper for Given) never even being seriously tested until the end.
The problem was always it seemed the advanced link play from Everton's midfield forward. Time and again, Everton broke out of defence with the ball in a promising situation, and good numbers. They played it on the ground competently, rather resorting to the dreaded hoof-ball, but they failed time and again to run at the back-tracking Newcastle defenders, instead choosing square balls or wall passes that allowed the defence time to regroup, then they would lose possession with one-too-many a pass that was wayward and the chance would go begging.
Bramble and Hibbert both earned second yellows in the space of 2 mins inside the last quarter-hour for overly aggressive fouls that took man instead of ball, and Osman, was lucky to get just a yellow for a blatant and very 'professional' shirt-tug near the end. From Bramble's misdemeanor, Arteta had blazed over a free-kick from a perfect position as yet another glorious chance to seal the game went begging. Arteta and Osman, while heavily involved in this performance in many ways, were both guilty of mistakes and lapses that could have been crucial in creating in Everton win had they made different decisions.
On one occasion near the end, a great interception by Osman allowed him to run forward almost unhindered and he had support inside from Cahill but a great goalscoring chance was squandered. It was a good performance in a very absorbing match, and a point at Newcastle is no mean feat. But Everton should have come away with all three.
David Moyes - 6 A frustrating day for Moyes. Their goal was a kick in the teeth and when they went down to ten men Moyes may have been contemplating an attacking substitution until Hibbert ended that idea. The fourth official will be glad to see the back of Moyes.
Dutch Schaffer
While last weekend's home draw with Wigan must surely be regarded as two points dropped and was, as such, a big disappointment considering our flying start to the season, the fact that we are one of only three teams still unbeaten in the Premiership is something of which to be very proud.
That unbeaten record will be tested at St James Park this weekend, though, as the Blues take on unpredictable Newcastle United. Glen Roeder's side have beaten Wigan at home and won in surprisingly convincing fashion at West Ham but also suffered reverses at the hands of Aston Villa, Fulham and, most recently, Liverpool.
The Barcodes again spent heavily in the summer, most notably bringing in Damien Duff from Chelsea and Obafemi Martins from Inter Milan for huge money, and they have an impressive squad that seemingly refuses to gel into the kind of side that can mount a challenge for Champions League qualification. Everton, with their tails up and sitting in fourth place in the table, will be looking to exploit their inconsistency and come away with another impressive result away from home.
Of the players who started against Wigan, Joseph Yobo appears to be the biggest doubt after aggravating a back injury in the 2-2 draw with the Latics. The Nigerian has been mostly restricted to light running this week and will no doubt undergo a late fitness test. The Echo suggested on Friday that he may even play on through the pain barrier, but that remains to be seen.
David Weir, who cricked his back before the midweek Peterborough cup tie, should be available if Yobo doesn't make it. The Scot's injury was described as a "48-hour thing" by physio Mick Rathbone. Alan Stubbs, however, is definitely ruled out with a knee injury that will prevent him from resuming training until next week. Tony Hibbert and Victor Anichebe apparently picked up slight knocks in the win at London Road but should be fit, according to the BBC.
4-5-1 — or Moyes's 4-1-3-1-1 variation of it — is a given for this televised clash, with Andy Johnson set to lead the line once more after being rested at Peterborough. Mikel Arteta, Tim Cahill, and Tim Howard are all expected to retake their starting berths, with Leon Osman again starting on the flank and Andy van der Meyde dropping back to the bench.
Newcastle will be without Celestine Babayaro, who has been banned for three games for violent conduct, but defender Titus Bramble returns from injury. Shola Ameobi faces a late fitness test on a hip injury.
In this fixture last season, which was also televised by Sky, Everton came away with a 2-0 defeat thanks to two goals by Nolberto Solano. David Moyes will certainly be looking to improve upon that performance and might ponder putting Nuno Valente in at left back to keep Solano quieter than might Gary Naysmith.
Another creditable draw like the one we earned at Blackburn would be a fine result, but there is always the possibility of exploiting the Newcastle defence with the pace of Andy Johnson and the ability of Tim Cahill to ghost into the box unnoticed and steal all three points.
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Lyndon Lloyd
May appear here later
Steve Flanagan
Newcastle and Everton played out a physical but entertaining draw fringed with controversy and littered with cards, two of them reds that left both teams to finish the game with ten men.
It was not the second-half dismissals that proved to be the most contentious incident in the match, though. That honour went to the goal-that-shouldn't-have-been that broke the deadlock in the 14th minute, converted by a clearly offside Shola Ameobi. Thankfully for Everton, Tim Cahill secured a point with a 41st-minute header and while either side could have won it in the second half, a draw was probably a fair reflection of proceedings.
David Moyes named the same line-up as that which started against Wigan eight days earlier, bringing Andy Johnson back in to lead the line after resting his leading scorer for the midweek trip to Peterborough United in the Carling Cup. But, despite coming out of the gates strong in the first couple of minutes, Everton were poor in the opening stages, giving up possession cheaply and inviting trouble from the Magpies' talented midfield duo of Scott Parker and Emre, both players whom Moyes tried to sign, of course.
First, Charles N'Zogbia did well to get ball into the danger area where Joseph Yobo hacked it behind from the floor to deny Obafemi Martins. The resulting corner was delivered into the danger zone and after a moment of pin-ball, it came to N'Zogbia but he blasted high and wide. More panic in the Everton defence ensued a minute later with the ball eventually falling to James Milner on the far side but, thankfully, he fired wide of Tim Howard's left-hand post.
Everton struggled to get anything cohesive going in the early going. Tim Cahill picked up another stupid booking for kicking out at Emre, while Mikel Arteta was largely peripheral and Andy Johnson was left to chase down defenders. Leon Osman, who was to have a strangely off-key match overall, had two chances to thread balls through for the Blues' No 8 but both times he badly mis-placed his pass.
This was to be a game ruled by the officials, though. If the first contentious moment when Titus Bramble held Cahill's arm in a lock and prevented the Australian from attacking Phil Neville's long throw wasn't bad enough, worse was to follow. Emre took a free kick wide on the left and the visiting defence pulled out en masse successfully deploying the offside trap but, to Everton's disbelief, the flag stayed down and Ameobi, clearly three yards offside, fired home despite Howard's best efforts to open the scoring in the 14th minute.
The Blues showed no obvious signs of panic, though, and quietly set about establishing more of a passing game and increasing their share of possession. Their task was also eased slightly when Ameobi had to be withdrawn for Antoine Sibierski after 23 minutes because of an ankle injury, and they probably should have been level a minute later when Bramble was booked for clipping Johnson and Joleon Lescott headed Arteta's free kick just wide at the back post.
The home side remained dangerous, though, as evidenced by Parker who effected a terrific lob on the run that Howard did well to guide behind for a corner with his fingertips, but it was Everton who finished the half the stronger. First Johnson forced a corner which he took quickly to successfully fool the defence but Osman, seemingly as surprised as everyone else, side-footed meekly into Harper's arms.
Then, Phil Neville steered in a cross that was met by the diving head of Lee Carsley but he could only guide it wide of the far post. Five minutes later, though, Arteta replicated the move with decisive success, swinging in a peach of cross that arced around the defence and across the face of goal to pick out Cahill unmarked at the back post. The Australian buried his header with his usual aplomb and made a beeline for the corner to do his trademark boxing celebration with the corner flag.
Having got back on level terms, though, the Blues were perhaps fortunate to go into the break at 1-1 after allowing Martins to fashion two chances for himself in the last five minutes of the half. First, after Sibierski appeared to have handled, the ball was laid back to the Nigerian who shot wide with the goal at his mercy.
Then, Martins was allowed to race onto his own through-ball as everyone left it but Naysmith dived in to block his shot. Unfortunately for the Scot, Martins accidentally stepped on his knee in the process, forcing Naysmith to hobble off with ugly stud-marks on his knee cap and a post-game prognosis of ligament damage to boot. Nuno Valente was pressed into action as his replacement for the last few minutes before half time.
The second half began as busily as had the first, with Parker claiming a penalty within two minutes of the restart. Strictly, he had a case as Carsley clearly tugged his shirt when the former Chelsea midfielder skinned him at the byline but so few penalties are awarded for that infringement these days that it would have been highly controversial had Steve Bennett awarded a spot kick there.
Instead, the referee busied himself with adding more names to his notebook: Neville was booked for a late challenge and Hibbert, was rightly flashed a yellow for a poorly-timed tackle on Parker — the resulting free kick fizzed its way through to Howard who did well to track it despite a couple of slight deflections and make the stop — and Emre was yellow-carded for cynically checking Arteta on the touchline. Johnson might also have been booked for diving had Bennett seen it that way when he tumbled in the box under the attentions of Bramble.
Chances-wise, there were precious few until Martins beat Lescott's sliding challenge and Howard had to come out and block his shot. Both teams were reduced to 10 men within a couple of minutes of each other. First, Barmble was shown a second yellow for taking out Osman with both feet on the edge of the box, setting up an Arteta free kick but his shot was poor. Then, Hibbert received his marching orders for another aggressive tackle on Sibierski.
The extra space made for an exciting, end-to-end finalé and it was Everton who looked the more likely to steal all three points. Yobo sent a looping header onto the roof of the net from the second of consecutive corners by Arteta before Osman broke clear after an awful error by the defender but he appeared to lack the confidence or the stamina to execute the decisive finish and was closed down as he shot.
And Osman again had a chance to be the hero when Johnson, not for the first time, used his pace to get around the back of the defence on the right and cut the ball across the box but the No 21 swept the ball into the waiting arms of Harper instead of burying it into the other corner. Televsion replays suggest that the ball might have been slightly behind him but it nevertheless capped a frustrating afternoon for the diminutive midfielder. He was probably fortunate it didn't get any worse though as he could well have received a straight red for a professional foul on N'Zogbia which prevented the Newcastle midfielder from rampaging through on goal in injury time.
Given that Newcastle's goal should never have been allowed to stand and that they had some great chances to win the game, Everton will probably feel hard done-by with this result, but looking at it objectively, a draw was probably a fair result. It felt like the Blues were playing with fire at times, inviting trouble from a team brimming with dangerous players, but the central defensive pair of Yobo and Lescott were, for the most part, superb.
What is also slightly worrying is that there was no-one on the bench to whom Moyes could turn to change things up for the better. He could have brought on James Beattie earlier than he eventually did (deep into injury time), but that would have been the wrong move. With very little working for Osman, it would have been nice to have had someone to add an injection of pace or flair on one of the flanks but Andy van der Meyde was dropped from the squad for this one... and, to be fair, showed only a couple of flashes of brilliance at Peterborough in midweek so you can maybe see why his manager felt fit to leave him out.
Overall, though, a draw at Newcastle, given the strength of their team, is a good result and it maintains Everton's unbeaten start to the season. We may well rue what might have been — a move up to second in the table, for example — but sitting in fifth and having improved on the results we had in the corresponding fixtures against Wigan, Spurs, Liverpool and Newcastle last season is not to be sniffed at.
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