Pickford wins duel with Gordon in goalless affair under the lights

Everton 0 - 0 Newcastle

Everton had Jordan Pickford to thank for the point they ground out against Newcastle United after he saved Anthony Gordon’s first-half penalty in front of the Gwladys Street End.

England’s No.1 star earned his first clean sheet of the Premier League campaign when he guessed the right way to deny the former Blues winger after James Tarkowski had inexplicably hauled Sandro Tonali the ground and, having reviewed the incident on the pitch-side monitor, referee Craig Pawson awarded a spot-kick.

Everton rode their luck for much of the contest and were worryingly ineffective going forward but they had strong shouts for a penalty of their own when Dominic Calvert-Lewin went down under the attentions of Dan Burn while Idrissa Gueye somehow spurned the chance to make the debate academic by skying over when it seemed easier to hit the target.

With both Jarrad Branthwaite and Vitalii Mykolenko missing through injury, it was Sean Dyche’s defence that was the cause for the most concern coming into this game but while Michael Keane almost dropped a clanger in the seventh minute and Tarkowski had a particularly poor first half, it was the huge spaces given up in midfield that were often the greater concern.

Orel Mangala and Abdoulaye Doucouré continued their partnership in the middle of the park with Gueye and Tim Iroegbunam on the bench but they often struggled to shore up the areas in front of the defence but James Garner deserved credit for an impressive performance out of position at right-back.

Pickford was called into action fairly early on when Keane under-cooked a backwards header that called for the keeper to rush out of his box and clear ahead of Gordon while Dyche’s men came within inches of conceding from Newcastle’s first corner of the game at the same point in the contest that Marc Guehi had put Crystal Palace ahead last week.

Calvert-Lewin connected with the dead-ball delivery from Newcastle’s left and it dropped to Bruno Guimaraes in space on the other side of the penalty area but Iliman Ndiaye got a crucial touch with the inside of his leg to divert the Brazilian’s shot along the goal-line and behind to safety.

Everton’s first foray forward of note saw Ashley Young arc a lovely ball down the line into the channel for Calvert-Lewin who chased it down, cut inside his man and despatched a low shot that Nick Pope gathered fairly comfortably while Pickford gathered in similar fashion from Jacob Murphy at the other end.

Goodison erupted a minute later, however, as Doucouré leapt to meet a wonderful delivery from Garner and steer it into the far corner of the goal but the celebrations were doused by a check by Video Assistant Referee, Chris Kavanagh, who correctly ruled that the Frenchman was offside.

From then until half-time, it was all Newcastle and after Murphy had missed the far post with a curling effort, the Magpies were eventually awarded a penalty thanks to Tarkowski brainlessly wrestling Tonali to the floor in retaliation for the Italian grabbing his own shirt.

Gordon made the decision to take the penalty in front of the home end and the moment got to him as he despatched a poorly-struck kick that Pickford blocked with his thigh and behind for a corner to the delight of the Gwladys Street.

The Scouser had drawn the ire of Goodison by flopping to the turf to sell cheap free-kicks to Pawson throughout the first period but he almost served the opening goal up for Joelinton in first-half stoppage time but the latter knocked the ball over the crossbar from close range.

The second half brought little change to the pattern of play, with Everton ceding around 70% of possession, offering precious little going forward and living dangerously at the back.

Tarkowski made a terrific block at the start of the second half to charge down a goal-bound shot from Tonali, the completely unmarked Guimaraes scooped Joelinton’s cut-back over the bar and substitute Miguel Almiron’s cross from the byline had to be bundled behind by Pickford after it had taken a deflection off Keane.

Meanwhile, Gueye, a 57th-minute introduction for Mangala, ballooned Doucouré’s square pass into the stand from outside the box, a miss that was nothing compared to what would follow midway through the second period.

In what was probably Everton’s best passage of play all afternoon, an uncharacteristically off-colour Dwight McNeil slipped Calvert-Lewin in near the penalty spot. He took a touch and swivelled a shot that Pope did well to save one-handed but as Calvert-Lewin went to convert the rebound, he appeared to kick the standing leg of Burn who had stepped across him and went down while Gueye somehow banged the loose ball over.

Dyche was incredulous that no penalty was awarded and slow-motion video replays show that Burn actually caught Calvert-Lewin's foot first, but play continued and Almiron went close not long afterwards when his shot flashed past the post having glanced off Tarkowski. 

Gordon then had a chance to atone for his penalty miss and win it when the Paraguayan slipped him in behind the Everton defence. Thankfully, though, he belted his strike over from the angle and Joelinton hammered a 90th-minute chance past the post.

Everton had their own chance to steal the points when Ndiaye floated a cross from the right and Doucouré ducked out the way but McNeil made a mess of the volley and the chance was lost while Garner wasted the last opportunity of the game when his ambitious direct free-kick attempt sailed well over the bar.

Under the circumstances, this was a hard-earned point that should be gratefully received against a good side that caused the Blues problems all afternoon, particularly with the speed with which they looked to move the ball through midfield.

Everton’s lack of guile and invention, the long spells where Calvert-Lewin and Ndiaye felt isolated in their respective roles, and a general inability to pick up second balls, something that is central to Dyche’s very one-dimensional way of playing, was frustrating.

However, the result represented a third successive game without defeat and the hope is that Branthwaite, at least, will be fit again for the trip to Ipswich on the other side of the international break.

 

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