Newcastle United 2-3 Everton: Nick Pope had an afternoon to forget at St James’ Park while Jordan Pickford was Everton’s hero.
It was a tale of two goalkeepers at St James’ Park on Saturday afternoon as Everton beat Newcastle United 3-2.
Jarrad Branthwaite gave Everton the lead by heading in from a corner before Jacob Ramsey equalised for The Magpies.
Moments after the equaliser, Everton went back in front as Beto pounced on Nick Pope’s goalkeeping error to make it 2-1.
Newcastle struggled to bounce back from the mistake but finally grabbed an equaliser in the 82nd minute through Jacob Murphy. But once again, they were only briefly level as Everton went the other end and made it 3-2 with Thierno Barry scoring from their very next attack.
‘Best save ever’ by Jordan Pickford?
But with one of the last kicks of the game, Newcastle midfielder Sandro Tonali unleashed a ferocious volley from the edge of the box which Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford was somehow able to tip onto the crossbar to effectively secure the three points for the away side.
While one goalkeeper cost Newcastle points, the other saved Everton’s three.
During Sky Sports’ live updates on the game, pundit Paul Merson described Pickford’s antics as: “One of the best saves I’ve ever seen.”
Toffees boss David Moyes also praised Tonali’s effort when asked about the save after the match: “The biggest credit I could give the save is to say Tonali's volley was textbook, he couldn't have hit it any better.”
Tonali dropped to his knees in disbelief, having found his shooting boots in recent weeks with two goals against Aston Villa and another against Qarabag in midweek. But perhaps his best-hit strike so far somehow didn’t find the net as Pickford reacted brilliantly to keep it out.
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Alan Shearer praises ‘world-class’ Jordan Pickford save
Speaking on Match of the Day, Newcastle legend Alan Shearer couldn’t help but praise the former Sunderland man’s save.
“That is a world-class save,” Shearer said. “It’s a brillaint strike from Tonali but it’s just an unbelievable save there, the reaction to get that onto the bar was remarkable.
“But Newcastle, in truth, probably didn’t deserve anything out of the game because they didn’t play well.”
Eddie Howe questioned about goalkeeper
The contrasting goalkeeper displays led to a question for Newcastle head coach Eddie Howe after the game about Pope’s performance and the need to address the club’s goalkeeper situation.
“Yeah, I think it's difficult for me to comment on any one player or any one position,” Howe responded. “Just collectively, we've got to defend our goal better.
“That's everyone across the board. That's me taking responsibility for that first. And then, of course, footing that down to the players.”
Howe added: “I think we think we're a good team. We think we've got every opportunity to grab games and go on a really good run.
“I think the team's in a much better place in terms of general performances than it was at the start of the season, but then we're not putting it together. For 90 minutes, we're still very inconsistent, even in games. And that's a huge frustration.
“We've been dominant in that second half. We score and then self-implode really in a couple of seconds. That cost us the game.
“That's hugely frustrating for everybody. So only we can look to improve that with proper analysis and then a way of moving forward.”
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