The Blues boss ended the season with another memorable away victory for his Everton side
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Carlos Alcaraz celebrates scoring Everton's winning goal at Newcastle United. Photo by George Wood/Getty Images
Carlos Alcaraz celebrates scoring Everton's winning goal at Newcastle United. Photo by George Wood/Getty Images
Everton’s win over Newcastle United showcased many of the attributes David Moyes hopes will help the club make progress next season. The Blues travelled to the North East with little riding on a game in which their hosts needed a win to boost their hopes of Champions League qualification.
Yet Everton were the better side as they produced a dogged performance that Moyes relished. Reflecting on the nature of the win, he drew comparisons between that and the away victories against Brighton and Hove Albion, Crystal Palace, Nottingham Forest and Fulham that have come under Moyes’ watch.
Those displays, in which Everton had the resilience to withstand pressure and the composure and quality to take advantage of the opportunities that came their way, provided a solid foundation for the future.
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Recognising that, Moyes said: “I just hope we can take this into next season, because we've done remarkably well away from home. I mean, another clean sheet for the goalkeeper as well is incredible. [At Newcastle] we were without probably our two best defenders, and I have to say the boys did a great job in keeping a clean sheet.”
Everton were without James Tarkowski and Jarrad Branthwaite for the final game but still defended their box with relative ease. Jordan Pickford was required to make a string of important saves but his greatest tests came from long range efforts and set pieces.
It was not a dominant performance by the away side - they had to withstand the home side’s growing desperation for an equaliser after Carlos Alcaraz’s second half header. But as with those previous away wins since Moyes’ appointment, Everton posed a threat and left Moyes brimming with pride and satisfaction.
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The challenge, Moyes acknowledged, is to try and retain the characteristics that were fundamental to those wins over a summer of huge transition. Of the 20-man squad that travelled to Newcastle, Ashley Young, Abdoulaye Doucoure, Jack Harrison, Armando Broja, Asmir Begovic and Joao Virginia will no longer be at the club come July.
Alcaraz could remain should talks over making his move from Flamengo permanent end in an agreement but others, including Michael Keane, Idrissa Gueye and Dominic Calvert-Lewin could still depart.
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Hoping those who remain are able to retain the spirit of recent months, Moyes said: “I hope that we can take everything that we showed [at Newcastle]. I think the players and what's inside the dressing room, they've got real big characters, and I hope we can keep it.
“It's a lot of that which the club's been built around over years and years, way before my time, but hopefully my first time as well. And I think it showed today, they showed great resilience and never given in at any time. And Newcastle had some opportunities to score. Maybe it wasn't their day.
“But let's be fair, we had a few opportunities to score as well and, you know, we could have maybe scored again. So, for us to come up here and give Newcastle a game with the form they've been in and how well they've done this season, it gives us hope that we can take something new into the new stadium.”