Barry Scores Winner As Everton Beat Newcastle

The Goal That Settled It

The match was goalless at half time, and the breakthrough came from a quick free kick that Newcastle never dealt with. James Garner slid Tyrique George in through the left channel, and George’s low shot squeezed through the hands of Newcastle goalkeeper Lukas Hornicek. Barry was standing a yard from goal and simply tapped the loose ball home in the 49th minute. There was a lengthy VAR check for a possible offside before the goal was given, but the finish stood, and it proved to be the winner.

It was a familiar feeling for both clubs. Barry also scored against Newcastle in the Carabao Cup meeting five days earlier, and he now has four goals in his last six appearances. Everton’s own match report put his season total at eight goals in all competitions, and only Erling Haaland, with 13, has scored more among Premier League players in all competitions this season. For a striker who missed a clear chance from seven yards in the first half, after Jarrad Branthwaite headed a free kick down into his path, the winner was the right kind of answer.

Everton Controlled Long Spells

Everton were the better side for most of the night. Merlin Rohl drove an early shot narrowly over the bar, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall teed up chances that Jake O’Brien and Harrison Armstrong could not take before half time, and the visitors kept pushing after the goal. Hornicek had to tip away two headers from Branthwaite, push a whipped Dewsbury-Hall shot from 25 yards over the bar, and turn another O’Brien header behind. Dewsbury-Hall finished as the player of the match, leading the game with three chances created and 75 touches.

We scored a nice goal and the most important thing is a clean sheet.

That was Dewsbury-Hall’s verdict in a club interview after the match, and the clean sheet mattered as much as the goal. Everton defended their box in numbers late on, and goalkeeper Jordan Pickford was protected for long stretches by a back line that won its headers and blocked its crosses.

Newcastle did have early moments of their own. Harvey Barnes had the home side’s first chances, with one delivery drifting inches wide of Pickford’s far post, and a William Osula cross took a deflection off James Tarkowski that forced Pickford to adjust and save. Those moments faded quickly, though, and by half time the pattern of the night was set: Everton carrying the threat, Newcastle chasing the game without ever really opening the visitors up.

Newcastle Left It Far Too Late

Newcastle’s numbers tell their own story. The home side did not manage a shot on target until the 85th minute, in front of a crowd of 52,279. When the chances finally came, they would not go in. Anthony Elanga hit the post from two yards out as the ball rolled along the goal line before James Tarkowski cleared, and Pickford kept out a strike from Yoane Wissa. Substitute Jacob Ramsey was then sent off in stoppage time, shown a second yellow card 84 seconds after his first, for a strong challenge on Armstrong, and Newcastle’s last hope went with him.

What It Means For Both Clubs

Everton move up to seventh with 13 points, and the club noted this was a third straight victory at St James’ Park. David Moyes and his players host Coventry City on Friday, November 6, with a chance to keep the run going before the international break. Newcastle stay 13th on 11 points from nine games, and the pressure around the team is growing, with a trip to Fulham next on Saturday. A side that drew a blank at home, and heard boos at full time, has very little time to find an answer. Coverage out of Newcastle this week has head coach Matthias Jaissle feeling the heat after losing to the same opponent twice in five days, and while 13th place is not panic territory for the club’s owners, another poor result at Fulham before the international break would leave his position under real scrutiny, with champions Arsenal due at St James’ Park on November 21.