Newcastle United and Everton are level at 0-0 at half-time at St James' Park, with the hosts still waiting for their first shot on target and Everton growing more dangerous as a scrappy first half wore on.
Newcastle named Will Osula up front in the confirmed lineups, but it was the visitors who carried the clearer threat before the break.
Everton Create the Better Chances
The half summed itself up in the numbers. Possession was split 50-50, yet Everton led the shot count eight to five and registered the only shot on target of the half, according to the live match data carried by Sky Sports.
Thierno Barry should have put Everton ahead midway through the half. Found on the doorstep from a free kick, the striker tried to snap a bounding ball past Lukas Hornicek, only to bungle the finish off marker Osula, as NBC Sports described the moment in its live blog. It was the kind of chance Barry has been finding all season — and, too often, not finishing.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and James Garner both fired off target as Everton began to find space, with Newcastle's midfield shape drawing audible frustration from the home crowd. Nico Gonzalez was left doing the work of three men in the middle — possessing, destroying and creating — while Joelinton and Joe Willock brought energy but little control.
Newcastle's best moments came in flashes. Amar Dedic danced inside off the right and fed Joelinton, whose spinning effort was blocked out for a corner, from which Dan Burn nodded just wide while off balance. Burn was then booked on 32 minutes, the only yellow card of the half.
Barnes Forces Pickford Into Action
Newcastle finally threatened late in the half through Harvey Barnes, their most spirited attacker. Barnes worked his way towards the arc and struck hard, the ball deflecting off Jarrad Branthwaite and forcing Jordan Pickford — booed at every touch by the home fans, as the former Sunderland goalkeeper always is here — to poke it over the bar for a corner.
Joelinton also blazed an effort by the bar before half-time, but the official shot-on-target column still read zero for the hosts at the whistle. For a side that lost 3-1 to this same Everton team in the League Cup on Thursday, it was an uncomfortable pattern: plenty of energy, too little precision, as the BTFW preview had warned.
There was also a late worry for Newcastle, with Lewis Hall going down injured in the 44th minute. The extent of the problem was not clear at the break, and Hall's fitness will matter — the left-back is one of the few sources of width and delivery in this side.
Off the pitch, the Jack Grealish subplot hung over Everton's bench. Grealish was absent for a second straight game, and NBC Sports relayed an update from The Athletic's David Ornstein describing the situation around his absence as complicated, with sources saying he is not fit and his availability for Friday's home game against Coventry unclear. That remains reported, not confirmed by the club.
So What Does the Second Half Hold?
Everything, for both managers. Matthias Jaissle needs a win and a performance at home after Thursday's cup defeat, with expensive summer signings such as Malick Thiaw, Yoane Wissa and Jacob Murphy all available from his bench. David Moyes, whose Everton side's only league defeats this season have come against Arsenal and Chelsea, knows a second win on Tyneside in five days would leapfrog Newcastle and deepen the pressure on Jaissle.
The game is there for Everton if Barry can finish the next chance that falls to him. It is there for Newcastle if Barnes gets another sight of goal and Gonzalez gets help in midfield. The first goal, whenever it comes, will change the whole mood inside St James' Park.
Beyond the Final Whistle: a home side with no shot on target in 45 minutes against a team they are supposed to be chasing is not unlucky — it is blunt. Jaissle has the bench to change this game, and if he does not use it early, this goalless first half will be remembered as the moment the home crowd's patience finally snapped.
Can Newcastle find a finish in the second half, or will Everton complete a cup-and-league double on Tyneside? Let us know in the comments.
