Everton 2-2 Newcastle: Instant Reaction | lol

Everton welcomed Newcastle United to Goodison Park this evening, fresh off a dour draw against West Ham. The Blues are still undermanned, but today, it did not matter. Everton were commanding, cohesive, and completely dominated a Magpies side that offered little to no resistance.

Moise Kean finally opened his Everton account after receiving an exquisite lofted through-ball from Bernard, and Dominic Calvert-Lewin followed that up in the second half with a rocket past Martin Dubravka. A goal in each frame did the trick for Everton, particularly on a day that saw Newcastle only register 3 shot attempts to Everton’s 16.

It’s been quite some time but today was the first time in ages that you’d have found it extremely difficult to pick out a poorly performing Blue. Mason Holgate was his typically imperious self. Moise Kean had the best performance of his young Everton career. Dominic Calvert-Lewin continued to look like an England striker. Up and down the lineup, there was confidence and competence. Even, at times, from Fabian Delph and Morgan Schneiderlin. Small victories, indeed.

Newcastle would nick a set play goal at the end through Florian Lejeune after Jordan Pickford failed to clear his lines, but it didn’t matter.

In the end, it was a match that showed us the promise of Carlo Ancelotti. Decisive, attacking football gave way to seeing a game out that should have been won, and it was. There was an air of optimism around Goodison tonight, and you almost got the feeling that there are more of these performances to come. With Watford and then Crystal Palace up next in succession, you wouldn’t bet against it, would you?

Please kill me.