David Moyes, manager of Everton.placeholder image
David Moyes, manager of Everton. | Getty Images
Everton suffered a 4-1 loss against Newcastle United
David Moyes refused to use Idrissa Gana Gueye’s absence as an excuse for Everton’s loss to Newcastle United.
The Toffees suffered a resounding 4-1 defeat by the Magpies at Hill Dickinson Stadium. Moyes’ men had the chance to record three successive victories in the Premier League but there hopes of doing so were ended by half-time.
Malick Thiaw headed Newcastle in front after just 53 seconds. Then Everton’s errors allowed Lewis Miley and Nick Woltemade to put the Magpies in command at the break. Thiaw compounded the Blues’ misery on 58 minutes before Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall netted the hosts’ consolation goal.
Everton were missing Gueye, who started the first of a three-match suspension for his red card in the 1-0 win at Manchester United earlier in the week. The midfielder is a key man for the Toffees and was replaced by Tim Irogebunam, who endured a difficult evening and was substituted at half-time.
And although Gueye’s void might have been a reason why Everton were comprehensively beaten, Moyes also admitted it could have been the calibre of Newcastle’s engine room. The Everton boss said: “It could be that but it could have been the quality of Newcastle United. You mustn't underestimate these are a Champions League team. We're coming here and if anyone turned up and thought this was going to be a given for us... I know they haven't won away from home but they probably had a different feeling losing to Marseille than we had beating Manchester United away from home. We go into it buoyant; they go into it thinking they're going to get something out of the game. They got off to a great start, we got off to a terrible start.”
Moyes did take some encouragement from Everton’s play in possession but confessed his troops were outdone by Newcastle’s physicality. He added: One in two in the last two might be consistency in the Premier League. If you look at the games, it is hard to win two in a row never mind three in a row which we were trying to do tonight. Newcastle found it really difficult for most of the season up to now. We have done quite well here at the stadium but consistency is always going to be
“There is a level of teams we will always try to be competitive against. Tonight, we weren't competitive or I didn't feel competitive enough because they probably outdid us physically. With the ball, we were competitive. We probably had more possession but it doesn't count for anything, corners you can't score from them.
“We probably didn't have many clear-cut opportunities but did a lot of good things and looked to threaten. But the moments we gave away the ball, they got on our back four too quickly and caused us problems.”
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