Everton have beaten Newcastle United for the second time in five days, Thierno Barry's tap-in four minutes after half-time sealing a 1-0 Premier League win at St James' Park that piles the pressure on Matthias Jaissle.
Newcastle finished goalless and frustrated, exactly as the game had threatened to go at the break, when the hosts had not managed a single shot on target in the half-time report from St James' Park.
Barry Pounces After the Restart
The only goal arrived on 49 minutes, and it was scruffy, controversial and utterly deserved on the balance of chances. Newcastle were caught asleep by a quick Everton free-kick, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall released Tyrique George, and George's shot squirmed underneath goalkeeper Lukas Hornicek. Barry, following in, side-footed the loose ball over the line from a couple of yards out.
What followed was a long VAR check. Replays showed Barry's arm had caught Fabian Schar as he got to the loose ball, and the offside lines came out too. The goal stood. As Sky Sports recorded the decision in its live coverage, the check for a possible foul came back clear — the contact was judged accidental and below the Premier League's high threshold for intervention — and Barry was behind the ball when George shot.
It was the finish Barry had owed Everton since the first half. Midway through the opening period he had bungled a glorious chance on the doorstep, snapping a bouncing ball off his marker when it was easier to score. This time, given a second bite from even closer range, he did not miss.
Pickford and a Blunt Home Attack
Everton had been the better side before the break, leading the shot count and the expected-goals battle while Newcastle huffed. Harvey Barnes forced Jordan Pickford into the save of the first half, his effort deflecting off Jarrad Branthwaite and being poked over the bar by the former Sunderland goalkeeper, who was booed at every touch and finished the night with a clean sheet to show for it.
Newcastle's second half was a familiar pattern of pressure without precision — with one glorious exception. On 66 minutes Harvey Barnes' cross was flicked on by Yoane Wissa and Anthony Elanga, from two yards out, somehow hit the post, the ball crawling along the line before James Tarkowski cleared. A penalty appeal when Lewis Hall went down under a Merlin Rohl challenge was waved away, and Jacob Ramsey volleyed inches wide on 79 minutes. Wissa's tame late volley, held by Pickford, was remarkably Newcastle's first shot on target of the entire evening, in the 84th minute. Barry, who had taken a knock and briefly returned, was withdrawn on 80 minutes for Brennan Johnson as David Moyes — booked himself for protesting — shut the game down, and Everton saw out the closing stages with the organisation that has become their trademark under him.
So What Does This Mean?
Everything the Monday night preview warned about has come to pass. Newcastle wanted revenge for Thursday's 3-1 League Cup defeat at the Hill Dickinson Stadium; instead they have lost to the same opponents twice in five days, at home this time, without scoring. Everton leapfrog them, and a side whose only league defeats this season have come against Arsenal and Chelsea, as NBC Sports noted during its live blog, are quietly building the most Moyes-like campaign imaginable: hard to beat, ruthless with the one chance that matters.
For Jaissle, the questions sharpen. Newcastle's expected points and expected goals numbers were already among the league's worst before tonight, and a home performance this blunt, in a game billed as a response, will not quiet the noise around him.
Beyond the Final Whistle: this was not a smash and grab. Everton created the better chances in both halves, scored the only goal and defended it without panic — away from home, against a team that had five days to stew over losing to them in the cup. When the same opponent beats you twice in a week two different ways, the problem is not luck. It is levels.
Is Jaissle's time running out at Newcastle, or does this squad simply need its finishers back? Let us know in the comments.
