AndyC
Player Valuation: £70m
Lennon and Barkley shine as Blues complete the double over hapless Geordies.
A daisy-cutter from Aaron Lennon and a brace of late penalties from Ross on his 100th appearance in a blue shirt saw Everton complete the league double over Newcastle in a performance that could and perhaps should have seen a much more punishing score line recorded.
Wor opponents on Wednesday night were Newcastle United, the club with many nicknames – Magpies, Toon Army, Skunks, Barcodes and the best of the lot, Horse-Punchers - and what a sorry looking team they are right now. Only Aston Vanilla have looked worse than Steve Maclarens’ expensively assembled outfit of misfits and the drop is beckoning.
Turning more importantly to the Blues and Joel continued in goal and will surely have had one of his easiest games ever, behind a back four of Seamus, Jags, RFM and Bryan O again getting the nod over Bainesy as left back. Gareth Barry returned alongside Jimmy Mac with Tom Cleverley seemingly looking to play slightly ahead in support of the starting front three of Ross, Romelu and Aaron on the right flank. Newcastle included ex-RS, bald-eagle lookalike Shelvey in midfield an’ Dross Townsend looking to inject pace and positivity.
The first meaningful action saw Elliott in the visitors goal dive full length to turn aside a curling Tom Cleverley shot before an apparent innocuous bump by Collocini on Rom saw the slightly worrying sight of our big Belgian needing treatment. Everton, attacking the Street End, were playing at a slightly quicker pace than of late and after Rom curled a 25-yard free kick just wide, some nice interplay between Ross and TC saw the ball arrive with Aaron and a sweet turn saw him pass the ball into the bottom corner from the edge of the box in the 23rd minute. The shot had no power, but was perfectly placed and just reward for an enterprising opening quarter.
As is the Everton way, a slight mix-up at the back almost gave the Horse Punchers a chance, but the lines were cleared and it was back to the attack. A long ball from Ramiro saw Elliott have to head the ball out but he only found Ross, but he misplaced his lob on the empty net into the terracing.
Ross was at the centre of most things and more close control trickery on the left worked the opening for a cross with, sadly, nobody in position to make the most of it. Seamus then cut to the right wing byline and his pullback to Aaron saw another low shot blocked and cleared.
Newcastle withdrew a limping Mbemba for the teenage Lascelles just ahead of the half time whistle ended a period comprehensively dominated by the Blues.
Arouna Kone replaced Rom for the second stanza and the Blues should have made it two-nil as Aaron and Ross combined for Aaron to again see his shot saved and Traffic skew the loose ball horribly wide. The wolly without a brolly brought Mitrovic on looking to add some cutting edge to his toothless attack and for a few minutes, Newcastle enjoyed some meaningful possession without unduly worrying Jags and co.
The bald-eagle scythed down Ross and escaped a yellow card (Boooooo!!) and Everton regained the ascendency with Ross crashing in a shot that Elliott superbly tipped onto the crossbar. Another free kick saw TC fire in a cross that Lascelles deflected onto the crossbar and it seemed only a matter of time before the goals would flow. Shelvey was finally and rightly booked for a poor challenge on Bryan O and Elliott again kept the visitors in the game saving from Cleverley.
Mitrovic, who hasn’t scored away from St.James’s Park, missed a glorious chance on 65 minutes when all alone six yards out, putting the ball wide when he really should have equalised. Seamus picked up a yellow after getting stranded upfield and impeding a Skunk before a touch of anxiety raised its ugly head in the home crowd as finally, Joel was called into action saving from Perez.
As the game entered its dying minutes, Aaron Lennon jinked his way into the box only to be felled and Holy Smoke, ref Craig Pawson pointed to a white blob in the Park End penalty area – oh my, we’d been given a penalty nearly eight months after start of the season. Ross demanded and got the ball, determined to mark his 100th game with a goal and he coolly despatched the spot kick low to the keepers right hand side.
Two-nil and game over… or was it ?
Into added on time and another mazy run by Ross saw the teenager Lascelles unceremoniously bundle the England star to the ground and just like overdue busses coming all at once, we got a second penalty and the Barcodes defender saw the red card brandished. Ross again took the ball and despite some Magpie divvie trying to put him off, he stepped up to beat Elliott with a Stonesy v Juve style chip to complete a thoroughly deserved victory.
Newcastle were poor, very poor while Everton were good, not sensational, but efficient and energetic, the only thing lacking was that killer, goal-scoring instinct.
As for the MotM vote, well Aaron again shone with his all-round effort and a nice goal, Tom Cleverley and Jimmy Mac grafted all night and Ross will undoubtedly get plaudits for his busy, I-want-the-ball performance that if one is churlish occasionally bordered on over-indulgence… but another player who caught my eye on the night was Bryan O, who defended well, linked up well going forward and might just have set El Bob a nice poser as to who starts at LB at the Brittania on Saturday.
A daisy-cutter from Aaron Lennon and a brace of late penalties from Ross on his 100th appearance in a blue shirt saw Everton complete the league double over Newcastle in a performance that could and perhaps should have seen a much more punishing score line recorded.
Wor opponents on Wednesday night were Newcastle United, the club with many nicknames – Magpies, Toon Army, Skunks, Barcodes and the best of the lot, Horse-Punchers - and what a sorry looking team they are right now. Only Aston Vanilla have looked worse than Steve Maclarens’ expensively assembled outfit of misfits and the drop is beckoning.
Turning more importantly to the Blues and Joel continued in goal and will surely have had one of his easiest games ever, behind a back four of Seamus, Jags, RFM and Bryan O again getting the nod over Bainesy as left back. Gareth Barry returned alongside Jimmy Mac with Tom Cleverley seemingly looking to play slightly ahead in support of the starting front three of Ross, Romelu and Aaron on the right flank. Newcastle included ex-RS, bald-eagle lookalike Shelvey in midfield an’ Dross Townsend looking to inject pace and positivity.
The first meaningful action saw Elliott in the visitors goal dive full length to turn aside a curling Tom Cleverley shot before an apparent innocuous bump by Collocini on Rom saw the slightly worrying sight of our big Belgian needing treatment. Everton, attacking the Street End, were playing at a slightly quicker pace than of late and after Rom curled a 25-yard free kick just wide, some nice interplay between Ross and TC saw the ball arrive with Aaron and a sweet turn saw him pass the ball into the bottom corner from the edge of the box in the 23rd minute. The shot had no power, but was perfectly placed and just reward for an enterprising opening quarter.
As is the Everton way, a slight mix-up at the back almost gave the Horse Punchers a chance, but the lines were cleared and it was back to the attack. A long ball from Ramiro saw Elliott have to head the ball out but he only found Ross, but he misplaced his lob on the empty net into the terracing.
Ross was at the centre of most things and more close control trickery on the left worked the opening for a cross with, sadly, nobody in position to make the most of it. Seamus then cut to the right wing byline and his pullback to Aaron saw another low shot blocked and cleared.
Newcastle withdrew a limping Mbemba for the teenage Lascelles just ahead of the half time whistle ended a period comprehensively dominated by the Blues.
Arouna Kone replaced Rom for the second stanza and the Blues should have made it two-nil as Aaron and Ross combined for Aaron to again see his shot saved and Traffic skew the loose ball horribly wide. The wolly without a brolly brought Mitrovic on looking to add some cutting edge to his toothless attack and for a few minutes, Newcastle enjoyed some meaningful possession without unduly worrying Jags and co.
The bald-eagle scythed down Ross and escaped a yellow card (Boooooo!!) and Everton regained the ascendency with Ross crashing in a shot that Elliott superbly tipped onto the crossbar. Another free kick saw TC fire in a cross that Lascelles deflected onto the crossbar and it seemed only a matter of time before the goals would flow. Shelvey was finally and rightly booked for a poor challenge on Bryan O and Elliott again kept the visitors in the game saving from Cleverley.
Mitrovic, who hasn’t scored away from St.James’s Park, missed a glorious chance on 65 minutes when all alone six yards out, putting the ball wide when he really should have equalised. Seamus picked up a yellow after getting stranded upfield and impeding a Skunk before a touch of anxiety raised its ugly head in the home crowd as finally, Joel was called into action saving from Perez.
As the game entered its dying minutes, Aaron Lennon jinked his way into the box only to be felled and Holy Smoke, ref Craig Pawson pointed to a white blob in the Park End penalty area – oh my, we’d been given a penalty nearly eight months after start of the season. Ross demanded and got the ball, determined to mark his 100th game with a goal and he coolly despatched the spot kick low to the keepers right hand side.
Two-nil and game over… or was it ?
Into added on time and another mazy run by Ross saw the teenager Lascelles unceremoniously bundle the England star to the ground and just like overdue busses coming all at once, we got a second penalty and the Barcodes defender saw the red card brandished. Ross again took the ball and despite some Magpie divvie trying to put him off, he stepped up to beat Elliott with a Stonesy v Juve style chip to complete a thoroughly deserved victory.
Newcastle were poor, very poor while Everton were good, not sensational, but efficient and energetic, the only thing lacking was that killer, goal-scoring instinct.
As for the MotM vote, well Aaron again shone with his all-round effort and a nice goal, Tom Cleverley and Jimmy Mac grafted all night and Ross will undoubtedly get plaudits for his busy, I-want-the-ball performance that if one is churlish occasionally bordered on over-indulgence… but another player who caught my eye on the night was Bryan O, who defended well, linked up well going forward and might just have set El Bob a nice poser as to who starts at LB at the Brittania on Saturday.
