George Overhill

Thu 7 December 2023 21:45, UK

Lucy Ward hailed James Tarkowski for a huge block thrown in to prevent Newcastle’s Bruno Guimaraes getting a shot at goal on the edge of the Everton box early in the 3-0 win.

The Amazon Prime pundit reacted live on the outlet’s coverage on the game (7 December) as an Anthony Gordon cross deflected off of Idrissa Gueye towards the edge of the area with half an hour gone and Guimaraes ran onto it.

Instead he was met with force by the Everton centre-back who crashed in with a strong sliding challenge on the ground which left the Brazilian in a heap.

Ward said (8.01pm): “Brilliant, Tarkowski. Quite happy, loves defending and going in for those blocks. He needed to do that. It was probably quite an easy effort to get it on target from Guimaraes.”

Commentator Jim Proudfoot said: “The ensuing collision has hurt the Brazilian. It was a very firm block from the Everton centre half who is in no way culpable.”

Ward added: “Yeah, neither player wanted to come out of that, both wanted to make sure they got on the end of it.”

Wall

Tarkowski was a massive presence at the back as Everton fought to secure a crucial 1-0 win at Nottingham Forest on Saturday (2 December) and he continued in a similar vein in the first half at home to the Magpies.

He needed to since the Toffees forwards were again struggling to make the most of numerous attempts on goal at the other end, with Dominic Calvert-Lewin particularly wayward.

Former Burnley defender Tarkowski is far from infallible but his partnership at the back with Jarrad Branthwaite and the leadership he provides with Jordan Pickford is so often crucial when Sean Dyche’s side get positive results.

Despite a full 11 places between the two sides ahead of kick-off it was Everton who had the best chances early, before the game settled into an attritional balance.

The scoreline stayed goalless deep into second half to suggest that it would likely not be much that separated the two sides and Tarkowski was, as usual, putting his body on the line to ensure his side wasn’t trying to come back from a first-half deficit.

He got away with one later in the game as he was caught in possession by Anthony Gordon, who could only fire at Pickford, before taking the armband from Seamus Coleman.

Whatever happens at the back Dyche needs his forwards to display more cutting edge in attack as it was another performance at Goodison that saw far too many chances come and go without being taken before it was once again Dwight McNeil who took matters into his own hands, and both Abdoulaye Doucouré and Beto added the gloss.

In other Everton news, a barrister has pointed to a potential Toffees lifeline against double punishment that has been “overlooked” so far.