The Geordies get thumped 3-0 at Goodison Park in a game filled with passion boiling over
Everton 3-0 Newcastle United: A disgruntling few weeks for the Everton supporters finally seem to be a mere memory following their 10-points deduction. As of late, they’ve been in red-hot form, and with the victory over this year’s UCL candidates from England, Newcastle United, they’ve even made their way out of the relegation zone – though just sitting a point away from the drop zone. Nevertheless, their brilliant form opens up room for hope as they have only lost 3 games in their last ten – two of which were against Manchester United where Alejandro Garnacho broke the internet with his overhead kick, and the other loss coming against Merseyside rivals, Liverpool.
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Coming into this game against a very compact Newcastle side was surely not going to be a no-brainer for Sean Dyche’s boys. However, there were some players fueled by vengeful sentiments as was made clear later on in the game – the foremost of whom was Jordan Pickford, a Hero at Goodison Park but a Villain for the Geordies. Let us dissect this game briefly and take a look at the sequence of events that led to the brawl at the end.
Everton 3-0 Newcastle United
The scoreline might deceive you into believing this was outright domination from Everton. Though there’s an element of truth in it, they definitely seemed to have come mentally prepared better than their Black and White counterparts. However, on the technical side of things, Newcastle had more control over the ball with over 60% possession under their belt along with a passing accuracy of 84% compared to Everton’s 74%. However, the hosts were more efficient with the ball, making the most of every counterattack, winning more corner kicks, and capitalizing on every goal possibility from an offense – racking up an xG of 3.23 in contrast to 1.58 for Newcastle.
It took Everton a whole tiring 80 minutes to put the ball past Martin Dubravka’s net. The first goal would come from Dwight McNeil’s brilliant strike. After a misplaced pass from Kieran Trippier, the Blue shirts ran in big numbers into the box where Dwight McNeil, who scored the first goal, managed to find Abdoulaye Doucoure, who safely tucked the ball in for 2-0. Around the dying minutes of the game, Beto found himself in acres of space and passed the ball through the keeper’s legs, sprinkling more salt on the wounds. Dubravka was beaten for the third time in the last twenty minutes. However, at the other end, Jordan Pickford couldn’t seem to contain his excitement.
Post-match Drama
Following a euphoric 3-0 win, Jordan Pickford capitalized on the opportunity to live in infamy for the Newcastle fans as he would go on to do a knee slide in front of the stand where the Newcastle supporters were seated. This reasonably left some Newcastle players livid, especially after that frustrating turnover in the final third of the game. Bruno Guimaraes, Joelinton, and Fabian Schar had all gone up to Jordan Pickford for a confrontation. Before things got uglier, they were separated by other players and security members also had to intervene. No fisticuffs or mass brawls broke out thanks to their timely management.
Did Jordan Pickford get his revenge?
One may wonder why Jordan Pickford was incited by his whims. You see, in Everton’s previous meetings with Newcastle United, he was jeered and mocked by the Newcastle fans. One of the fans took it to the skies by dressing up as a T-Rex costume and ‘little arms’ chants were heard all around as can be seen in the clips below:
So did Pickford get his revenge?
There’s no clear answer for this but for the moment being, yes! After a dramatic win coupled with a clean sheet over opponents with whom he shares a rather bitter history, it must feel sweet for the English shot-stopper to be coming out on top that night. But this was not the last encounter with Newcastle as they are set to face them again on the third of April in a hostile territory, St. James Park. Will we see the same drama and rush of adrenaline?
