Newcastle United picked up a point on their final trip to Goodison Park on Saturday evening. In what was a measured, if uninspiring display, United had all the possession and play but spurned a litany of chances as they couldn’t beat Jordan Pickford in the Everton goal.
Anthony Gordon endured a tough 90 minutes, as despite being our best player, he missed a penalty, and a couple of excellent chances to net against his old club.
Here are our five key takeaways from the game:
An unhappy return
In a footballing paradox, Anthony Gordon was both United’s best and worst player on Saturday. He looked quick, and sharp on the ball. One first half flick away from a floundering James Tarkowski was pure poetry in motion. He consistently made excellent runs (that unfortunately his teammates often ignored) and he was tough and durable as he was getting fouled consistently by the Toffees.
Unfortunately, he passed up the only two gilt-edged chances to score in the game from the penalty spot in the first half, and he really should’ve scored when he was put through by Almiron late in the second half. Mentally, after the penalty miss, it all seemed just a little bit too much for him. But there are really encouraging signs to his play as he appears to be approaching full fitness again.
Low block struggles continue
I wrote after AFC Wimbledon on Tuesday that I’d reserve judgement on United’s ability to breakdown a low block until after the Everton game. Honestly, it’s a difficult one to assess. Newcastle controlled the game, had all of the play, and created by far the best chances. It was simply abject finishing that let the team down.
The game was not crying but hollering out for a striker, it needed Isak or Wilson to apply the finishing touch using their striker’s instinct run to make the back post run or to get across and in front of their defender.
It’s such a devastating shame, and frankly poor transfer business, that they both suffer such…
Source link : https://www.nufcblog.co.uk/2024/10/07/five-takeaways-from-everton-0-0-newcastle-good-riddance-goodison/
Author : Jonathan Young
Publish date : 2024-10-07 06:00:34
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