Magpies beaten deep into injury time
Newcastle United suffered a second defeat in the space of a week on Thursday evening as struggling Everton struck late on to earn a 1-0 win at Goodison Park.
Having lost late on at Chelsea on Sunday it was another hugely disappointing finish to a game for Eddie Howe’s side as Alex Iwobi scored the only goal of the game in the 99th minute.
Willock & Joelinton returned to the starting line up in the Magpies midfield with Fraser back in wide left. Saint-Maximin was once again among the substitutes as his return from injury progresses. For the home side the major change was Begovic replacing the unwell Pickford in goal.
Newcastle edged a largely uneventful first half with the best two chances falling to Chris Wood, one of which he headed over the bar and the other was comfortably saved by Begovic. At the other end, other than an early header from Godfrey, the hosts offered very little.
The game was forced into a bizarre interlude early in the second half when an oil-protestor tied himself to the goalpost round his neck. This caused a lengthy stoppage as bolt cutters were required to remove the individual.
Both sides continued to struggle to create anything but as the game entered the last 10 minutes the contest appeared to swing in Newcastle’s favour after Allan was shown a red card for a foul on Saint-Maximin following a VAR review.
With a man advantage and the home environment becoming increasingly nervy on and off the pitch the visitors pushed forward to try and press home their numerical advantage and with 14 minutes of injury time announced they had plenty of time to do so.
However, as the game edged towards its 100th minute, Iwobi seized on some loose play in the midfield and broke forward, exchanging passes with Calvert-Lewin before beating Dubravka with a cool finish.
The relief around Goodison Park was obvious as they held on in the final 5 minutes of injury time to clinch the points and move 3 points clear of the relegation zone.
For Newcastle, Eddie Howe is once again left to lament a late lapse that has seen his side come away with nothing from two credible away performances. The defeat leaves the Magpies in 14th place, 9 points above the relegation zone and 4 points behind 10th-placed Southampton.
The Toon now have over two weeks off with another away game up next, against Spurs on 3rd April.