Newcastle ended their away-day blues in emphatic fashion by beating Everton 4-1, recording their first league win on the road since April.
Eddie Howe said he was fed up of talking about the Toon’s poor record away from St James’ Park but his team responded with a polished and relentless performance.
The hosts showed none of the fight and resilience in evidence during Monday’s 10-man win at Old Trafford and the three goals they conceded in the first half were a result of defensive shortcomings.
Malick Thiaw set the tone by scoring the fastest Premier League goal of the season so far after 52 seconds and his first since a £35m summer move from AC Milan as Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford was pinned in from a corner.
Ex-Sunderland man Pickford had a night to forget as he allowed a fierce drive from Lewis Miley to slip through his defences which doubled the Toon’s lead.
It was 3-0 before the break as the excellent Nick Woltemade finished off a flowing counter with an artistic lobbed finish that left Pickford standing. Everton were undone from another cross in the second half when Thiaw rose highest to thump home a fourth.
Lewis Miley is mobbed by his team-mates after scoring Newcastle’s second goal against Everton
Howe had defended Nick Pope after a series of high-profile errors but was spared making a difficult decision after the goalkeeper sustained a groin injury in training. That gave Aaron Ramsdale his first league start for the club after joining on loan in the summer but he was not called into any action of note until the 53rd minute when tested by Iliman Ndiaye.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall grabbed a stunning consolation for a listless Everton, who were outclassed and outfought in every department by the visitors.
Newcastle are now within four points of fourth place in the Premier League table on 18 points.
‘Newcastle will be up near the top six or eight soon enough’
Phil Jagielka on Sky Sports:
“Newcastle were thoroughly professional, there was a bit of outside noise as they are not where they want to be in the league, the players and manager will have known it.
“But the only way to move up the table is to come to tough places like they have today and perform the way they did and pick up points.
“I have no doubts they will be up near the top six or eight in the league soon enough, but they need to start winning more away from home.”
Analysis: Livramento becomes the playmaker
Sky Sports’ Lewis Jones:
Tino Livramento didn’t just play right-back in Newcastle thumping 4-1 win over Everton – he was their source of creativity.
The playmaker.
This was a Trent Alexander-Arnold impersonation with a Tyneside twist, the sort of hybrid, inside-out, playmaking masterclass that should get the Newcastle fans very excited.
Especially in the first half, Livramento operated in such clever positions off the right.
He kept Jack Grealish in his pocket then sliced Everton open with his passing. Newcastle’s shape morphed whenever he stepped inside – at times he was a No 8, then a quarterback, then flying away on the overlap. Everton couldn’t pin him down. In truth, they never got close. No player completed more passes in the final third than Livramento (18).
Newcastle’s best moves flowed through him. Their tempo quickened when he got on the ball. The entire tactical blueprint Howe rolled out was supercharged by this tactical tweak to get Livramento on the ball at every opportunity.
Howe asked if Pope would have been dropped anyway
When asked if Pope would have played if fit Howe said: “Good try! That is something for me to know.
“We are disappointed to lose him. We can’t afford to lose any player.
“He suffered an injury just towards the end of training. I did not name the team until yesterday.
“So we were just training as normal, he was wrong-footed on a shot and felt something in his groin, more after training than in that moment, and we hope he is not out for long.
“We need him back. He will have a scan in the next few days to find the damage.”
