Newcastle United battled to a 1-1 draw at Everton

Sitting back and defending, Newcastle United were able to come away with a draw against Everton.

Going on the road to face Everton, who was coming off a tough derby loss over the weekend, Newcastle United needed to be ready to take the Toffees’ best punch. They were able to do just that at Goodison Park today, coming away with a 1-1 draw.

As they did in matches earlier this season against some of the top clubs, the Magpies arrived at the match prepared to sit back and bunker down. Rafa Benitez deployed a 5-4-1 formation with a backline of DeAndre Yedlin, Fabian Schar, Jamaal Lascelles, Federico Fernandez, and Javier Manquillo. From the opening whistle, Everton’s attack pushed them deep into their own defensive half, forcing them to rely on limited counter-attacking chances. In the 19th minute, one of those opportunities turned into an opening goal for Newcastle.

Jacob Murphy, getting a rare start, was able to control the ball in the middle of the park. He raced down the left side and his cross found Salomon Rondon at the far post for a close-range finish past Jordan Pickford. Everton immediately looked for an equalizer, pushing players into the box and testing Martin Dubravka. Federico Fernandez would make a hero play to keep things level shortly after the half-hour mark. Gylfi Sigurdsson found himself with a quality chance to equalize, only to see Fernandez dive in at the final moment and stop the shot.

Unfortunately, a few minutes later, Everton would find their goal. Richarlison got on the end of a corner kick and put home an easy chance in the 38th minute.

The second half would feature similar action to the first. Everton pressing the action and controlling the ball as Newcastle United sat deep and tried to take advantage of limited chances on the break. Dubravka proved to be the star for the Magpies, shutting out Everton in the remaining 45 minutes. Newcastle racked up four yellow cards in the second half as they attempted to use physicality to keep the Toffees from finding a winner. They tallied 18 fouls on the match, more than double Everton’s seven.

At the final whistle, it was split points for Newcastle United and Everton. Despite the even scoreline, the stats heavily favored the hosts. Everton had 77% of possession, 19 shots to Newcastle’s eight, and over 400 more passes. Newcastle United actually finished with more shots on target despite having half the amount of total efforts.