Jonty Banks

Thu 27 April 2023 21:44, UK

Everton remained in the Premier League relegation zone after they suffered an embarassing 4-1 defeat against Newcastle on Thursday night (27 April).

The Toffees started brightly in front of the Goodison Park faithful but fell behind to Callum Wilson’s strike after 28 minutes.

After the break things went from bad to worse for Sean Dyche’s side, with Joelinton heading in a simple second before Wilson unleashed a beautiful curling third.

Dwight McNeil pulled a goal back directly from a corner kick before Alexander Isak tore the Everton defence to shreds and set up Jacob Murphy for the away team’s fourth goal of the night.

Here Goodison News rates the players out of ten for their performances against the Magpies on Thursday night.

Jordan Pickford – 5

A mixed night for Pickford, who could have done better with the goal, but instead palmed Joelinton’s shot straight into the path of Wilson, who subsequently put the ball into an empty net. The Everton number one was strong on the ball and pinged a couple of cracking passes through the Magpies’ press. Made an incredible finger tip stop to deny Joe Willock when he volleyed a cracking shot from the edge of the box. Couldn’t really do much about the capitulation that followed, with his defence at fault for almost all of the goals, and the Englishman left with little to no chance on each occasion.

Ben Godfrey – 1

The Englishman came in for the suspended Mason Holgate, but struggled against a rampant Joelinton all night. Was absolutely skinned by his opposite number for the goal, when the Brazilian tore down the left flank and hit a shot that Pickford pushed out for Callum Wilson to poke home. There was a rinse and repeat of this mistake within a minute of the second half when Joe Willock put Godfrey on the back foot and cut inside and almost curled his shot home. The second goal also came from a well-worked move down Godfrey’s flank. Really was a night to forget for the Englishman.

Michael Keane – 3

Got a run on the Newcastle defence at the near post but blasted his left-footed effort wide of the post and lashed a second-half shot straight over the bar when well-placed to cross into the box. Was one of many culpable for not picking up Wilson in the box for the opening goal but otherwise marshalled the Newcastle striker pretty well. The centre-back was caight napping once again for Joelinton’s second goal and will be frustrated by a couple of lapses in concentration. Was torn inside and out by Isak for the fourth goal as Everton’s capitulation was sent into overdrive.

James Tarkowski – 5

Came to the rescue within seconds of the restart with an outrageous block off Willock which drew applause from the Everton crowd and denied a certain goal. No individual errors for any of the goals but can’t be exused for conceding with such ease on such a regular basis. Everton lacked leadership all night long, and Tarkowski is usually the man to deliver this. A unfamiliar poor night at the office for the Englishman

Vitalii Mykolenko – 4

Could have done better to get to the ball before Wilson poked home the first goal of the night, but otherwise dealt relatively well with the twin threat of Miguel Almiron and Kieran Trippier. The substitution of Jacob Murphy coming off the bench made his life a little harder in the second half and the defence started to crumble from there onwards.

Amadou Onana – 6

Returned to the starting lineup after injury and for half an hour, looked like the missing piece of the jigsaw for Dyche, nipping in with tackles, pressing aggressively and displaying a decent range of passing. Was booked for a cynical pull of Bruno Guimaraes shirt but overall matched up well against the Brazilian. In the second half the Belgian’s influence on the game waned and he was rightly substituted after 75 minutes as he started to tire.

Idrissa Gueye – 5

As was the case with his midfield partners, Gueye wasn’t found out for his lack of effort, but more his lack of creativity. The midfielder lacked ambition on the ball and was often found making the easy pass instead trying to break the lines. As the second half progressed, the former PSG man was caught out in transition time after time, with the midfield resembling a bagel instead of a flat three at times.

Abdoulaye Doucoure – 7

Doucoure was the beating heart of any bright Everton play on Thursday night and seemingly covered every blade of grass on his return to the team. Somehow managed to surge forward for almost every Everton attack as well as putting in a cracking defensive shift. Couldn’t quite put the finishing touches in the final third though.

Alex Iwobi – 4

Iwobi was preferred to Demarai Gray on the right wing, but the 26-year-old failed to get into any positions to play crosses for Calvert-Lewin to feed on in the first half. Frustratingly hit a corner over the heads of every Everton player to Dyche’s dismay and his set pieces in general were a little underwhelming. Made up for this with a powerful piece of running and nice through ball for Calvert-Lewin in the second half.

Dwight McNeil – 6

Picked up some strong positions in the final third but stung a couple of shots straight into the palms of Nick Pope when he really should have done better. Played a perfectly weighted through-ball for Clavert-Lewin’s disallowed goal and was one of Everton’s brighter attackers. Pulled one back for Everton with a devilishly whipped corner which passed everyone on the way into the Newcastle net.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin – 7

The Englishman thought he had got his name on the scoresheet just before the break when he was played in behind the Newcastle and lobbed Pope was an audacious chip, but for the VAR to deem him offside. Although he was rarely brought into the game, the striker looked really sharp, forcing Pope into a cracking save when shooting from a tight angle and holding the ball up to regular success. This match felt like the Calvert-Lewin of old, and Dyche will be thrilled to have his talisman back to his best.

Substitutes

Neal Maupay – (On for Onana, 73′) – 5

James Garner – (On for Gueye, 82′) – N/A

Ellis Simms – (On for Calvert-Lewin, 82′) – N/A