VIEW FROM THE BLUE

Enigmatic Everton Turn the Tables on Newcastle

The enigma that is Everton rolled into the northeast this afternoon, threatened to follow the midweek cup humilation at the hands of Reading with another defeat after falling behind to a confident Newcastle and then promptly turned the match on its head to claim a priceless victory, one that moves them within four points of sixth place.

Blues fans are accustomed to frustration and inconsistency but the current team has got to be the most schizophrenic of any that has played under David Moyes over the past nine years. Starting the game with a line-up featuring a number of personnel and positional changes, a first victory at St James' Park in 10 years looked, to be a tall order for Everton and yet with more composure in front of goal in the second half, they could have killed the Magpies off handily and saved the traveling faithful a nervy finish.

Given what he'd witness on Tuesday, it was no surprise that Moyes elected to change things up, hoping to shore up central midfield by moving Phil Neville into the holding role, pushing Mikel Arteta out to left midfield and Leon Osman out to the right. Seamus Coleman, who has been looking a little jaded of late, dropped back to the bench giving Tony Hibbert a rare run-out at right back and Jermaine Beckford replaced Diniyar Bilyaletdinov to form a two-pronged attack with Louis Saha.

Despite the two-striker formation, it was a starting XI that looked short on creativity but it would become apparent very quickly that Arteta, relieved of his more defensive midfield duties, would take up the challenge of crafting this victory with zeal. It was he who interrupted some early Newcastle pressure with a terrific run at the end of an Everton counter-attack in the 17th minute that ended with him cutting inside onto his right foot and unloading a powerful shot from 18 yards that Steven Harper palmed away superbly for a corner.

Three minutes later, though, it was the now familiar defensive failings that threatened to condemn Moyes's team to defeat. Neville's brief was presumably to shackle Kevin Nolan but no one was tight enough to him when he picked up neat a pass by Williamson on the left side of the area, giving him the time he need to deliver a cross to the back post that Leon Best stooped to head, unmarked, into the empty net.

1-0 to Newcastle and it looked like it was going to be a long afternoon, particularly when Best planted a free header just wide from a cross from the left wing on the half hour.

In the next minute, though, in a scenario that would play out several more times in the second half, Everton counter-attacked purposefully with Osman leading the charge and he fed Arteta down the left channel. The Spaniard stabbed a square ball back to Osman and the diminutive midfielder had the composure to take one touch before passing it into the net.

Five minutes later, it was 2-1! Arteta won a free kick wide on the left and Leighton Baines stepped up to whip a wicked ball behind the home defence that was tracked all the way by Phil Jagielka and he steered a high bounce home off the underside of the crossbar.

The Barcodes were stunned and didn't really muster a response until the fourth minute of first-half stoppage time when, with the Everton defence unable to get the ball clear, Gutierrez hammered the ball across the area to Williamson at the back post but he prodded the wrong side of the post from his perspective and the Blues escaped to the dressing room with their lead intact.

Moyes must have been expecting a more sustained assault from Newcastle in the second half, particularly when his captain and midfield anchor, Neville, hobbled out of the action just seven minutes after the restart with what looked to be a hamstring strain. Coupled with another display of shocking profligacy of possession by his replacement, John Heitinga, and the ingredients were there for a disappointing second 45 minutes.

It was all the more surprising, then, that the eventual disappointment would come from the number of opportunities missed by the visitors and not from precious points being thrown away at the other end, although the first to arrive owed everything to an excellent one-handed stop by Harper to deny Beckford. Arteta made good progress down the right side before finding Osman who stabbed it into the path of Beckford. The striker took one touch past his marker before firing a shot that was destined for the far corner until the 'keeper deflected it past the far post for a corner.

Two minutes later, it really should have been 3-1. Arteta, surging without impediment all the way down the left this time, clipped a perfect ball across into the path of Saha but the Frenchman inexplicably despatched a free header high over the bar.

Though Beckford had looked sharp in front of goal, not least when he picked up Saha's knockdown and half-volleyed crisply, albeit too close to Harper who caught the shor comfortably, his overall performance was undermined by some truly abysmal hold-up play. Either unwilling or unable to challenge for any of the high balls aimed his way, he was beaten in the air at almost every turn and a succession of sloppy layoffs and clumsy first-touches were probably the deciding factor in his withdrawal on the hour in favour of Victor Anichebe.

And in his first real involvement, the controversial Nigerian international almost played a part in a third goal for the Blues. Osman charged out of defence and carried the ball all the way into the Newcastle half before playing in Anichebe on the left wing who returned the pass square to Osman who exchanged passes with Arteta before dinking a clever ball forward into the area for the Spaniard. Arteta nodded the ball ahead of a defender and knocked it across the six yard box into the path of Saha but it just eluded the French striker's boot by an inch and the home side survived.

The inevitable handbags between Nolan and Anichebe flared up the following minute with both players picking up bookings before Best had the ball in the net for a second time, only to have his goal ruled out for a clear push on Jagielka.

That set up a back-and-forth final 10 to 15 minutes, including five minutes of stoppage time, in which Alan Pardew's men tried to force something from the game but desperately lacked the quality to exploit the gaping holes in the Everton midfield that opened up between Heitinga, Rodwell and the left flank. Pushing forward, Newcastle were vulnerable to the counter-attack but with fatigure clearly starting to take its toll on the likes of Arteta and Osman, three separate opportunities ended up going begging. The best of them fell to Coleman after Saha and Anichebe had combined well but the final ball didn't have enough pace for the Irishman to get there in time to flick it over Harper and the 'keeper smothered his shot well.

So a valuable win for the Blues that moves them up to 10th place, level on points with Newcastle, and, with their game in hand against Birmingham City coming up in midweek, have a great opportunity to be right onto the heels of the clubs chasing sixth place by the time Fulham come to town next Saturday.

Unbelievably, with four of their next five matches at home, Everton could yet find a way back into Europe on the back of this rollercoaster season if they can put a consistent run of results together and the right things fall their way in terms of the number of Europa League places made available to Englsish clubs.

The concern, as ever at this stage of the campaign, is the toll that injuries and tiredness will play on such a small squad. But the spirit is still in evidence and, for now at least, the momentum is upwards.

Player Ratings: Howard 6, Hibbert 6, Jagielka 8, Distin 7, Baines 7, Osman 8 (Coleman 7), Neville 6 (Heitinga 4), Rodwell 6, Arteta 8*, Beckford 5 (Anichebe 6), Saha 6

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