Match Report

In preparing to take charge of his new squad, Frank Lampard will have studied video of Everton’s recent performances and seen for himself how a team increasingly bereft of confidence had failed to register a Premier League victory since early December. It’s one thing to view it fairly dispassionately with a critical eye on a screen but quite another to watch the confidence that had been ignited by the FA Cup win on Saturday drain out his players before his eyes from the touchline.

This harrowing defeat on Tyneside laid bare the size of the task Lampard faces at Everton, one that is about much more than rebuilding shattered confidence and making this team play a more effective brand of football now that he has lost three players to injury in both of the first halves he has overseen thus far. Worse, two of the injuries have afflicted his two best centre-halves which will compound serious deficiencies in defensive midfield.

The hamstring injury Ben Godfrey sustained against Brentford also exacerbated a lack of cover at left-back; Yerry Mina’s latest injury set-back removes the backbone from Everton’s defence and leaves the new manager with just three recognised centre-halves, one of them still very green as Jarrad Branthwaite demonstrated this evening while the atmosphere inside St James’s Park became increasingly intense.

Worryingly, there was fear in this Everton performance; panic at times, as Allan Saint-Maximin, the game’s outstanding player, tormented them with his pace, drive and sheer unpredictability. The Frenchman set up what was effectively the winner for Ryan Fraser to score his first Premier League goal for Newcastle (15 months after he signed for them) and prompted the clumsy foul from Everton’s Allan that led to Kieran Trippier putting the icing on the Geordie’s cake with his own maiden strike from a direct free-kick.

St James’s Park can be a difficult place for Everton to play and Newcastle have been awkward opponents for Toffees teams over the years, not least last season when they beat Carlo Ancelotti’s side home and away. Tonight, against a side rested after a fortnight off, was another sorry trip to the North East but things might have been different had Lampard’s men been able to consolidate the lead they established in the 36th minute rather than surrender it almost immediately through profligacy at the back.

It was an illustration for Lampard that where this Everton team proved adept at playing through Brentford because Thomas Frank’s side largely let them, against Newcastle’s relentless press, they struggled for space and passing lanes, particularly once the Magpies had gone ahead and couldn't cope.

In that sense, the introduction of Donny van de Beek was instructive because where André Gomes let him and his side down badly with another of those performances that has made his time at Goodison so frustrating, the Dutchman was confident in possession and near faultless with his distribution. He rarely had options ahead of him, however — at one point he threw his hands up with the ball at his feet imploring someone to give him a target — but Lampard will know that he has an important asset there who should walk into the starting XI on Saturday against Leeds.

Whether through a desire to reward the bulk of Saturday’s team or an acknowledgement that they might not have been match sharp, Lampard left Van de Beek and his other deadline signing, Dele Alli, on the bench. He was forced to improvise in the left wing-back position by deploying Andros Townsend there after Vitalii Mykolenko was ruled out after returning an inconclusive Covid-19 test.

The match began in frenetic fashion but Everton had just about weathered it despite awful distribution in their own half in the early stages, particularly from Mina and Gomes. Richarlison and Anthony Gordon almost carved out an early chance but the former failed to spot the latter’s clever run into clear space on the edge of the hosts’ penalty area.

The Brazilian then dragged a shot a yard or so wide in the 12th minute and Townsend saw a later effort take a heavy deflection behind and Mina couldn’t keep his header down from the resulting corner.

Everton lost Gray to a hip injury, however, after just 25 minutes and he was replaced by Dele who had one shot charged down in an otherwise subdued remainder of the half to start his Blues career.

Newcastle had been feisty and aggressive but they were largely being kept at arm’s length. Jonjoe Shelvey had smashed a second-minute chance inches over after Mina’s slack pass had gifted Newcastle possession and Jordan Pickford had safely gathered after the ball had bounced goal-wards off Chris Wood but Howe’s side didn’t have a clear chance until just past the half-hour mark when Pickford had to make a good save with his foot while Mina lay prone on the turf clutching his upper thigh.

The Colombian did his best to convince the physio that he could continue when clearly he couldn’t and he was replaced by Jarrad Branthwaite.

It was from a reckless Shelvey tackle on the tireless Gordon, one that on another day might have resulted in a red card, that the visitors took the lead. Townsend swung the free-kick in and when the ball broke to Holgate his shot was cleared off the line but into Lascelles who could only watch helplessly as the ball bounced over the goal line.

It was a moment that called for composure from Everton but when Holgate’s first attempted pass out of defence came back off a Newcastle attacker, he repeated the error by aiming a sloppy pass in Allan’s general direction, one that overran its target and was intercepted which required Michael Keane to clear it behind.

Unfortunately, the Blues’ set-piece frailty reared its head again and Lascelles was able to meet Kieran Trippier’s corner and crash it off the crossbar, the rebound hitting Holgate and rebounding into the net to make it 1-1.

Wood might have turned the contest on its head when Ryan Fraser’s deflected shot fell to him in front of goal but he put a tame header into Pickford’s arms while Joelinton mis-kicked when Saint-Maximin’s cut-back skidded invitingly to him near the penalty spot in first-half stoppage time.

If Lampard had tried to calm his new charges down and impress on them the need to keep their heads, the advice didn’t seem to be heeded in the second half. Gomes picked up his customary booking for pulling an opponent back once he had gone past him while Richarlison was scythed down in Newcastle’s half by Fabian Schär who was also shown a yellow card.

And it was another individual error that led to the hosts’ second goal. Dele was dispossessed in his own half, the ball was fed to Saint-Maximin who drove past Seamus Coleman to the byline, clipped the ball into the six-yard box where Fraser knocked it home from close range to put the Magpies ahead.

Everton had a decent chance to test Martin Dubravka at the other end just a couple of minutes later when Richarlison was fouled on the edge of the box but the Brazilian despatched a poor free-kick into the wall. Meanwhile, the nerves were getting to the Blues' back line, particularly when Saint-Maximin had the ball at his feet.

He forced one save from Pickford that Wood turned into the net before being flagged offside but when the Frenchman accelerated past Allan and drew a foul from the Brazilian midfielder, it gave Trippier the chance to wrap things up. The former England full-back did just that by bending a free-kick around the wall and inside the post with 10 minutes left.

And it might have been worse because while Everton toiled in midfield, the impressive substitute Donny van de Beek trying his hardest to drive Lampard's men forward in the closing stages, Jacob Murphy hit the post late on and Pickford denied Joe Willock from the rebound and Saint-Maximin almost got the goal his performance deserved when his injury-time effort was deflected just past the post.

It’s unlikely Lampard was under many illusions as to how difficult this job might be in the short term but after the victory over Brentford, he might have been lulled slightly into a sense that the optimism around his arrival and the “new broom” effect had banished the worst of the fears plaguing the group he inherited from Rafael Benitez.

Tonight will have brought home to him that the work he and his staff need to do in the coming weeks will be on psychology as much as it is on drilling the players on his methods. There is talent in this squad, much of it at the top of the pitch and it needs to be harnessed by the application of a system that can provide them ammunition but there are mental hurdles to clear as well.

Newcastle provided the model for Everton to follow, though, when they are at home. Pound for pound, they are no better than the Blues but they ably demonstrated the huge advantage that can be made of an aggressive, relentless performance, a raucous home crowd and individual brilliance.

We’re just a week into the new manager’s tenure. He is still learning about what he has at his disposal. it’s too soon for him to have impressed upon the players the way he wants to play and teething problems in reverting back to a more possession-based approach were inevitable. With 45% of the Premier League season still to go, there’s still time but Lampard needs to find the answers quickly nonetheless.

Lyndon Lloyd

Matchday Updates

Everton took the lead at Newcastle United but the home side were back in it immediately and denied Everton any time and space on the ball, destroying any lingering confidence from the weekend win over Brentford.

Frank Lampard stays faithful to the team that finished the big win over Brentford. New signings Donny van de Beek, Dele Alli, Anwar El Ghazi and Nathan Patterson are all on the bench, along with Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Jarrad Branthwaite, Alex Iwobi, and Jonjoe Kenny.

Mykolenko returned an inconclusive Covid-19 test and misses the match. Ben Godfrey joins Doucouré, Delph and Davies on the injury list. Gbamin, Tosun and Rondon are left out of the squad.

Everton got things going and tried to retain n possession but eventually gifted the ball to Saint-Maximim. A terrible pass from Mina then allowed Shelvey to run and shoot over. Pickford getting the usual barracking. But the Blues found it hard to get the ball out of their half with repeated midfield giveaways.

In the aggressive Toon press, Allan lost out to Joelinton but was given a free-kick that finally saw Everton play briefly in the Newcastle area. But a really competitive game was developing, with little space and the need for accuracy in passing. Coleman played a great ball across to Townsend running in, but he messed up what could have been a decent chancbe on goal.

Townsend last possession and Holgate rashly tried to recover but ended up clattering Fraser and getting an early yellow card. Trippier swung in the free-kick but it came through to Pickford, as Targett was the next to need attention, fouled by Gray.

Everton calmed things down with a decent spell of midfield possession, leading to a Townsend shot that was headed behind for the first corner, Gray picking out Mina, who got underneath it.

Gordon superbly stole the ball and tried to get things moving forward but Gray was suffering and Dele Alli, shorn of his red dreads, was called up to replace him.

A free-kick saw the big men advance but Holgate could not do much with it and the ball was recycled into midfield for more highly contested possession. Coleman got in a great run forward but could not pick out a blue shirt with his cross. Mina tacked Saint-Maximim off the ball and was lucky not to be booked.

Gordon did very well again to playing Alli but Richarlison was well offside when he backheeled the ball past Dubravka. Mina went down as Newcastle attacked but it was repelled by some excellent work from Gordon, who was only felled by a disgusting tackle Made in Anfield (TM), for Jonjoe Shelvey, easily worth a red card.

Mina finally hobbled off, replaced by Branthwaite. From an excellent Gordon free-kick, Holgate shot goalwards but it was cleared back off the line then bundled in off Lascelles. Everton in the lead at St James's Park

But it didn't last long. Newcastle pressed from the off and forced Branthwaite to intercede at the expense of a corner that was powered in far too easily by Lascelles, off the bar and hitting Holgate a yard out for another own goal to level things. Game on!

The pendulum was now swinging back to the home side, Trippier swinging in a really dangerous corner, and the second ball was headed softly by Wood straight to Pickford. Everton were rocking a little and desperately needed to settle things back down before the break but another Newcastle attack saw the Everton defence having kittens, Branthwaite in the right place again but Trippier with another corner, that thankfully came to nothing.

The half ended with a desperate sequence of Everton defending as Saint-Maximim danced his way in from the right and then set up Joelinton, who thankfully fell over the ball! The whistle finally blew on a very closely contested first half with neither side willing to accept the title of 'relegation candidates'.

Gomes did one of his daft 'tackles' for a yellow card right after the restart, and the free-kick, fortunately, was somehow cleared. Everton broke on good work by Coleman down the right releasing Richarlison who was scythed down unceremoniously by Schar. Surely more than a yellow card?

A fabulous ball from Coleman picked out Dele Alli but the ball didn't fall for him and the chance was gone. At the other end, Saint-Maximim was up to his tricks again and Gomes had to bring him down. Branthwaite again got his head crucially on the ball at the expense of a right hook from Pickford. Thankfully he's a big tough Cumbrian.

But again, Saint-Maximi was released after a poor ball from Alli and he was driven to the byeline but was able to pull out a deft cross to Fraser that he buried through a number of ball-watching Everton defenders.

Richarlsion won a free-kick 20 yards out that was terrible, trying to go below the non-jumping wall, Brantwaite firing down the throat of Dubrovka. Donny van de Beek replaced Gomes but it was now all Newcastle, with the Everton players making a lot more crucial mistakes, Alli giving up a free-kick wide right, and Saint-Maximim putting in a wicked ball that Wood failed to attack.

Poor clearances by Pickford then Branthwaite gave up another corner for Trippier but this one was harmless. Allan was lucky not to be booked, giving up another free-kick, and forcing Coleman to give up another corner. It was all Newcastle now, with Everton struggling for any kind of shape or continuity

Alli and Van de Beek worked down the left but Townsend's cross was overhit. But a much better spell of play saw some long-distance shots from Gordon and Van de Beek blocked. Van de Beek tried to release Richarlison down the right but it swung out of play. Van de Beek was getting more and more involved, and trying to play quality balls.

But the pace and desire of Newcastle was proving hard for Everton to compete with. Gordon looked to have fouled Saint-Maximim, causing some handbags from Newcastle and he again created a chance that ended up in the Everton net but ___ was ruled offside. Everton tried to build an attack but it was hard work making any impression on the him side.

Newcastle attacked again and Allan fouled Fraser for a cheap yellow card. Trippier fired in a shot that surely Pickford should have stopped, going around the outside of the wall?

Everton tried to respond but Gordon's clever chip hit a Newcastle defender, Richarlison turned away from Towensend's nice forward ball... nothing was working for them. They tried to create forward play ut it just wasn't happening, Van de Beek shot but it was too easily blocked.

With Everton attacking slowly, Saint-Maximim broke again and almost went all the way, laying to off to Murphy whose shot smacked off the post and the rebound was hammered into the stomach of Pickford by Willock.

Saint-Maximim got free again, this time dumping Holgate, and danced in before firing a shot that screwed off Pickford and wide.

Scorers: Holgate (og:37'), Fraser (56'), Trippier (80'); Lascelles (og:36')

Newcastle United: Dubravka, Trippier (90+1' Manquillo), Lascelles, Schar [Y:50'], Targett, Willock (90' Guimaraes), Shelvey [Y:34'], Joelinton, Fraser (83' Murphy), Wood, Saint-Maximin.
Subs: Burn, Krafth, Almiron, Darlow, Gayle, Longstaff.

Everton:Pickford, Coleman, Holgate [Y:14'], Mina (35' Branthwaite), Keane, Townsend, Allan [Y:79'], Gomes [Y:47'] (60' Van de Beek), Gordon, Gray (25' Dele), Richarlison.
Subs:

Referee: Anthony Taylor
VAR: Chris Kavanagh

Attendance: 52,186

Michael Kenrick

Match Preview

Everton are in the North East on Tuesday evening for a fixture that assumed huge importance in the context of the relegation picture in recent weeks as the Blues' dreadful Premier League form dragged on under Rafael Benitez.

It's two months since Everton last won a League game but with Benitez gone, Frank Lampard installed in his place, and a rousing 4-1 FA Cup victory over Brentford behind them, the team will travel to Tyneside in much better heart than would have been the case just a fortnight or so ago.

Lampard's upbeat outlook, his positive coaching methods and those of his staff have had a visible impact on the Toffees' players which was evident in their approach against the Bees that yielded their biggest win all season and has transformed the entire mood around the club.

The new manager won't be getting ahead of himself, though, and the nature of his potential “six-pointer” against fellow-strugglers Newcastle United won't be lost on him. The Magpies may have only won two games all season but since three successive heavy defeats to Liverpool, Leicester and Manchester City before Christmas, they have been showing signs of life under their own recently-appointed head coach, Eddie Howe.

A home draw with Manchester United may have been set against cup embarrassment at the hands of Cambridge United but another 1-1 draw at home to Watford and a 1-0 win at Leeds last time out have lifted them off the bottom of the Premier League.

And January saw Newcastle start to flex the financial muscle of their Saudi Arabian owners with £93m shelled out on five players that strengthened their back line with Kieran Trippier, Dan Burn and Matt Targett, injected quality into midfield in the form of Bruno Guimaraes and a added target man up front in Chris Wood.

Wood and Trippier have already played their first games for the Barcodes but the other three could all feature for the first time against Everton, with Brazilian Guimaraes coming highly rated and being a potential difference-maker in the middle of the park.

Callum Wilson, the Toon's current top scorer who notched a brace in this fixture last season, is out for an extended period, though, and both Isaac Hayden and Jamal Lewis were dropped from the revised squad Newcastle submitted to the Premier League after the transfer deadline because of injuries that will keep them sidelined for the foreseeable future.

Lampard, of course, has two quality signings of his own that he might hand debuts to, with Dele Alli and Donny van de Beek no doubt raring to go after being cup-tied at the weekend. The boss has questioned whether Dele will be sufficiently match-sharp to start but Van de Beek could step straight into a side that will likely shift from the 3-4-3 against Brentford to a 4-3-3.

The final starting XI will depend on the fitness of Dominic Calvert-Lewin who missed the win in the cup with a minor knee problem but who has been training for the past few days and should be fit to travel with the squad. Should the striker be deemed able to start, the competition for places among the forward three will be intense, with Anthony Gordon, Demarai Gray, Dele, Andros Townsend and Richarlison all vying for spots.

At the back, Ben Godfrey is expected to be out for 4 to 5 weeks with the hamstring tear he suffered against Brentford that saw him leaving Goodison on crutches on Saturday afternoon. The defender's absence increases concerns in central defence where Yerry Mina has had injury problems of his own this season, both Mason Holgate and Michael Keane have struggled for form, and Jarrad Branthwaite is highly promising but still green.

However, Keane and Holgate had solid displays against Brentford and Mina's looked none the worse for having to play an hour so soon after returning from international duty so Lampard can be comfortable that he has enough cover in that department and his main concern will be around whether Seamus Coleman can play three times in seven days and whether Holgate or Nathan Patterson should come in at right-back.

As Everton and Carlo Ancelotti found out last season, St James's Park is never an easy place to go and Howe's side will be buoyed by their new acquisitions which should make Newcastle that much more difficult to beat than would have been the case a month ago.

However, the new recruits will need time to bed in and with the Toffees under Lampard looking dangerous going forward, there is plenty of scope for Everton to come away from Tyneside with a result.

Kick-off: 7:45pm, Tuesday 8 February, 2022
Referee: Anthony Taylor
VAR: Chris Kavanagh
Last Time: Newcastle United 2 - 1 Everton

Predicted Line-up: Pickford, Coleman, Mina, Keane, Mykolenko, Allan, Gomes, Van de Beek, Gordon, Gray, Richarlison

Lyndon Lloyd

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