February 09, (THEWILL) – With a 3-1 win over Everton at St. James’ Park, a vastly Impressive Newcastle United moved out of the bottom three as Allan Saint-Maximin put in a masterclass for the hosts.
Although a Mason Holgate own goal was what it took to bring Newcastle level from a previous own-goal, the French attacker was inspirational, providing an assist for Ryan Fraser’s goal. With a superb free kick, Kieran Tripper added the cherry on top to lift Newcastle up.
The Magpies got off to a flying start, boosted by a boisterous crowd at St. James’ Park, with Jonjo Shelvey’s long-range attempt narrowly missing the crossbar inside the first four minutes.
Soon after, Everton gained some traction in the game, with Richarlison proving to be Frank Lampard’s live wire in attack. And it was the Brazilian who came closest to scoring first, expertly grabbing onto the ball on the edge of the penalty area before sending a shot just wide of Martin Dubravka’s left post.
Within the first 30 minutes, the Toffees were forced to make two injury substitutes. Demarai Gray was replaced by Dele Alli, then Yerry Mina had a muscular injury and was replaced by Jarrad Branthwaite, although not before Newcastle had almost exploited Mina’s injury.
While Mina was on the ground, Joelinton ran through on goal on the left side of the penalty box, but his shot was blocked.
Everton scored just moments after Mina was subbed off. It was all down to a Jamaal Lascelles own goal, as a set piece dropped to Andre Gomes on the left of the six-yard box led to the Newcastle captain deflecting his shot into the net.
However, Newcastle was back level just 30 seconds later. The equaliser came courtesy of a set-piece own goal. Lascelles made amends for his own failure by slamming the ball into the net off the crossbar and then off Mason Holgate.
After that, it was all Newcastle coming into half-time, as they squandered two good chances before the break. When the ball found its way to Chris Wood’s head while he was unmarked on the edge of the six-yard box, he should have given the Magpies the lead.
However, he failed to obtain any type of direction on his header, as Jordan Pickford comfortably collected the ball. After being teed up by the excellent Saint-Maximin, Joelinton humiliated himself by missing so glaringly.
The home team maintained their momentum into the second half, and they deservedly scored the game’s third goal. After some fantastic play down the left wing by Saint-Maximin, Fraser bundled the ball home from three yards out.
The Magpies pressed on after taking the lead, continuing to push high up the pitch and relying on a Saint-Maximin who was firing on all cylinders. He cut in from the left side and his deflected ball fell into Wood’s path. The big forward scored, but he did it from a yard offside.
But, they still deservedly added a third goal in the 80th minute, when Kieran Trippier smashed a 25-yard free kick into the bottom corner to claim maximum points at the final whistle.
Frank Lampard had thrashed Brentford in his debut game in charge at Everton, only for him to be on the receiving end of a harsh scoreline. It was not entirely his fault – the Toffees’ flow was severely disrupted by those early injuries.
The full-time scream heard around St James’ Park, on the other hand, will delight Eddie Howe. His team recovered fast from the ground, and while the scoreline was boosted by some individual brilliance from their England right-back, they certainly demonstrated their spirit.
Up next for these two teams are more pivotal games for their season trajectories. Everton will face Leeds, with whom manager Lampard has a tense history, while Newcastle will face Aston Villa and another ex-England great in Steven Gerrard in the dugout.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
