Match Report Everton beat Newcastle by a solitary goal for the second time this season as Theo Walcott converted his side's only shot on target with an emphatic finish. The Blues were unchanged from the team that started against Swansea last weekend for the visit of the Magpies this evening, with Schneiderlin and Gueye in midfield alongside Rooney. Leighton Baines made his 400th appearance for Everton when he started in his customary left-back role. Everton started on the front foot and had an early claim for a penalty waved away by referee Robert Madley when Theo Walcott went down in the box after busting through and Cenk Tosun bobbled a shot wide. Yannick Bolasie then had a side-foot shot from Baines's pass blocked in routine fashion in the 16th minute. While the visitors were content to drop back, invite their hosts on and try and hit them on the break, the onus was on Everton to take the game forward and they won back-to-back corners from which the best chance of the game thus far eas created. Rooney swung the ball back into the box after the second set-piece had been cleared, Keane's header dropped across the six-yard box and Jagielka arrived at the back post but couldn't help but sky a first-time shot over. What should have been Newcastle's best chance arrived three minutes later when Jordan Pickford's clearance caught Kenedy and fell invitingly to Islam Slimani who just had to slide in Ayoze Perez for a clear opportunity but he over-cooked the pass and the 'keeper slid in to claim it. Back at the Park End, Baines's teasing square pass was begging to find a Blue jersey but skidded behind Tosun and too far ahead of Gueye as Everton continued to try and find a way through. The second half began in the same pattern of Everton dominating the ball without doing much of note with it and a mix-up at the back presented Perez with a good opening off Kenedy's touch but he delayed the shot and ended up slicing wide under pressure from Keane. Moments later, however, it was 1-0. A deep Bolasie cross fell to Walcott via a somewhat fortunate rebound and he took a touch to make space for a shot that he despatched high into the Newcastle goal. Morgan Schneiderlin, whose recent revival of form had continued in the first period, had to be removed immediately after the goal with an apparent injury and was replaced by Tom Davies. Newcastle came close to equalising 10 minutes later when Lascelles rose highest to meet a corner that dropped to Dwight Gayle who had just come on but he swept the ball narrowly over from close range. Gayle was brought down by Keane as he touched the ball past him in full flight with a quarter of an hour to go but Matt Ritchie's curled free kick cleared Pickford's bar by a foot. Everton struggled to keep control of the game in the final 10 minutes but were let off the hook by ineffective attacking by Newcastle. Seamus Coleman did have to make a last-ditch intervention in stoppage time but the Blues saw out a narrow win to remain in ninth place. Kick-off: 8pm, Monday, 23 April, 2018Referee: Robert MadleyLast Time: Everton 3 - 0 Newcastle United Everton: Pickford, Coleman, Jagielka, Keane, Baines, Schneiderlin, Gueye, Rooney, Bolasie, Walcott, Tosun Subs: Robles, Funes Mori, Martina, Baningime, Davies, Niasse, Calvert-Lewin top Match Preview Goodison Park plays host to its penultimate match of the 2017-18 Premier League season as Newcastle United come to town for the Monday night game. Sam Allardyce faces another of his former clubs in a contest that looked at one stage as though it might have had significant ramifications in terms of the relegation picture. Now, however, with first the Toffees and now the Magpies having assured their top-flight safety, it's very much a mid-table affair. Indeed, the two clubs sit side by side in the table in ninth and 10th place respectively with just a point separating them thanks largely to Rafael Benitez overseeing four wins on the bounce which has lifted them well clear of the drop zone. Everton, meanwhile, under Allardyce have won just one of their last four, having been beaten at home by Manchester City and then drawn against Liverpool and Swansea, and have registered just four victories since the turn of the year. It's been enough to keep them between 11th and 9th since they won at St James's Park and it looks like that will be the Blues' lot this season unless they can overhaul Leicester and hold off Newcastle to finish eighth. With Allardyce admitting that he still feels under pressure as speculation over his future and an uneasy relationship with supporters continues, he is unlikely to be moved to experiment much with his starting line-up. That could see Everton unchanged from the side that started at Swansea, which would mean Morgan Schneiderlin continuing in defensive midfield alongside Idrissa Gueye, Wayne Rooney playing in between a wide duo of Yannick Bolasie and Theo Walcott and Cenk Tosun deployed up front. It's unlikely to bring much of a change in approach but with the benefit of home soil, the Blues are always capable of grabbing a goal and getting their noses in front. The issue for the manager, however, might come if Everton concede early or reach half time having barely bothered the opposition goalkeeper, as has been the pattern for far too much of the last few months. In that case, the disgruntlement that moved a significant element of the away support to chanted his name in unfavourable terms at Swansea last week could surface in the stands at Goodison. It seems inconceivable, given that Benitiez has been at odds with his board over the financial straightjacket within which he has been forced to work this season while Everton have blown historic sums on a failed recruitment drive that Newcastle would leapfrog the Blues if they were to conjure up a win on Monday evening. It would be testament to the recent and timely resurgence on Tyneside under the Spaniard and the continued stagnation on the Blue half of Merseyside but it also wouldn't tell us much more than we already know. Everton need change and inspiration in the dugout and it can't come soon enough. Kick-off: 8pm, Monday, 23 April, 2018Referee: Robert MadleyLast Time: Everton 3 - 0 Newcastle United Predicted Line-up: Pickford, Coleman, Jagielka, Keane, Baines, Schneiderlin, Gueye, Rooney, Bolasie, Walcott, Tosun Lyndon Lloyd top * Unfortunately, we cannot control other sites' content policies and therefore cannot guarantee that links to external reports will remain active.