OUT OF the bottom three, Everton will now fancy themselves to never return. Just when it looked for all the money like being another Goodison night of butchered sitters, up stepped Dwight McNeil with another rocket.
Everton beat Newcastle 3-0 to move out of the bottom threeCredit: Getty
A pair of huge blunders from Kieran Trippier proved costlyCredit: Reuters
Last Saturday the winger bagged the winner at Nottingham Forest.
And here he was again five days later, leathering home nine minutes from time to continue Newcastle’s mysterious away day blues.
Abdoulaye Doucoure then sealed the win before Beto’s injury-time strike to leave Sean Dyche’s side 17th, away from relegation zone for the first time since being slapped with a 10-point deduction.
Kieran Trippier, normally Mr Reliable, was at fault for the first two after inexplicably giving the ball away.
For so long here Everton’s finishing was atrocious, and it didn’t take a genius to work out why they had scored the fewest Prem goals on their own patch.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin had an absolute mare, spurning chance after chance – but all that will be forgotten now as Everton can start looking up.
They would be in the top half if they had those 10 points and if Dyche can somehow sort their finishing out, they should be able to stay well away from danger from here.
It wasn’t only Everton missing chances though as the Geordies had more than enough openings to win it before the hosts ran riot late on.
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Everton claimed their first home win of the seasonCredit: Getty
It would have been just Newcastle’s second win on the road all season, but they never deserved to win.
Howe said on TV beforehand that their worrying away form is “something we’re looking into”.
Based on this horror showing, the Toon boss is further away than ever from finding the answer.
Virtually unstoppable at St James’ Park, Newcastle were – once again – a shadow of that side.
That they’ve only beaten Sheffield United on their travels says it all.
Yes, they are down to the bare bones with Howe being forced to name the same outside 10 players for the fourth straight game, but that hardly explains why they turn from monsters into mice outside of the North East in the Prem.
Much was made of how Goodison Park would be a bear pit for the visit of Manchester United in the first game following their 10-point deduction.
Silenced by Alejandro Garnacho’s stunning overhead kick just three minutes in, they never recovered.
But with anger at the Prem still very much in the Merseyside air, the return of favourite son-turned-public enemy Anthony Gordon only added to the mardy mood.
And the locals were roaring in delight when veteran Coleman skinned Gordon down the right before Ashley Young’s effort was deflected behind.
Other than a woeful Miguel Almiron shot after being slipped in by Joelinton, it was all Everton early on
Wingers Jack Harrison and Dwight McNeil were a constant menace yet Calver-Lewin’s finishing was awful.
He headed his first at Dubravka before a scuff had the Slovakian outstretched to his right.
And then five minutes before the break the centre-forward put his name in the hat for miss of the season.
A free-kick was knocked down and flicked on by Jarrad Branthwaite to an unmarked Calvert-Lewin, yet as everyone else stopped expecting the offside flag to go up, he spooned a volley miles over.
A huge opportunity wasted, but he wasn’t the only one with McNeil also guilty when dragging wide.
It wasn’t quite at Calvert-Lewin level but at the other end Isak nodded a free header just past the post from seven yards after great build up.
So many golden chances though neither Dubravka or Pickford were really called into action before the break.
And Calvert-Lewin was at it again five minutes into the second half, miscuing a header after McNeil’s dangerous cross.
Newcastle were nervy, totally different from the rampant side we see at St James’.
No doubt Howe would have switched things up but with two keepers, four full-backs and three untested to call on off the bench, he had nowhere to go.
Howe’s Mags couldn’t find their rhythm but thanks to James Tarkowski dawdling on the edge of his box, they were gifted a huge opportunity to score the opener.
Gordon nipped in on the centre-back to give himself the perfect opportunity to silence the boo boys but, in keeping with the night, the winger, who could have buried in either corner, shot tamely straight at Pickford.
And how costly it proved with McNeil bagging the winner 79 minutes in.
Kieran Trippier made a rare howler, gifting the ball to the winger just inside his own half.
The Everton winger then burst forward to the edge of the box and let rip with a rocket past Dubravka.
And it was bedlam inside Goodison when Doucoure buried from 12 yards after Jack Harrison caught Trippier out again with another howler.
Sub striker Beto then turned it into a complete nightmare for Newcastle as he sped away down the right beyond the knackered Fabian Schar and finishing under Dubravka. More
