Newcastle United fell to a 3–2 defeat against Everton at St James’ Park, marking their third consecutive Premier League home loss and extending a troubling run on Tyneside.
Depending on how the weekend goes, NUFC might go to sleep on Sunday sitting 14th in the standings. Not very good for a team in ascension and aiming at becoming a European superpower, is it, PIF?
Jarrad Branthwaite gave Everton the lead in the 19th minute, glancing James Garner’s corner
in at the far post in what was about to turn into a chaotic matchup.
Newcastle responded in the 32nd minute when Jacob Ramsey’s shot, following good work from Sandro Tonali, deflected off Branthwaite and looped over Jordan Pickford to level the score…
…only for the parity to last barely two minutes. Dwight McNeil’s effort from distance was only deflected questionably by Nick Pope, and the goalkeeper failed to recover the ball in time, allowing Beto to convert the rebound to restore Everton’s advantage.
Newcastle made a change at the break when Ramsey was forced off after puking on the field, being replaced by Joe Willock. The hosts equalized again in the 82nd minute, Jacob Murphy volleying home from Joelinton’s chipped cross, and hope was restored…
…only for it to be lost even quicker than before. Everton’s response was even more immediate this time, as within a minute, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall delivered a low cross for substitute Thierno Barry to finish, putting the Toffees 3–2 ahead and for good.
Newcastle controlled possession with 67 percent of it (yay!) and registered 11 attempts (wohoo!), but defensive lapses proved decisive, and the two goals they conceded after leveling twice were awful, to say the least.
The Magpies have now kept only two clean sheets in 21 Premier League matches and have conceded at least twice in each of their last four home games.
The defeat leaves Newcastle on 36 points with nine games left, closer to the bottom three and relegation than the European places, and with a seventh-place finish and participation in next season’s Conference League as the only realistic path to Europe at this point.
Newcastle host Manchester United on Wednesday as they get into a murderous month of March.
