Newcastle United managed to steal a point at Goodison Park last night with an early goal from Salomon Rondon.
After a surprising thrashing from West Ham last weekend, Newcastle United managed to earn a positive result against Everton yesterday as the two sides drew 1-1 at Goodison Park. The match was far from entertaining, but Newcastle got the job done and added one more point to their record to jump to 14th in the league table.
Everton were the better side as they maintained possession and created more chances, but Newcastle were scrappy in defense and they made the most of their limited offensive opportunities. Here are three key observations from last night’s 1-1 draw.
Tireless Defending
Newcastle’s back-line deserves to be praised after their performance yesterday. Rafa Benitez deployed a 3-4-3 formation against Everton with Fabian Schar, Jamaal Lascelles and Federico Fernandez serving as the muscle men in the back. Despite being bombarded with 19 shots and being forced to chase down 650 passes, Newcastle’s defensive trio were fully committed to stealing a crucial point on the road.
This unwavering work ethic and tight defending was lacking on Saturday, but fortunately it was able to slow down an in-form Everton side that boasts several talented players on offense. Newcastle must maintain this level of intensity when they play Wolverhampton on Sunday if they wish to earn another positive result.
Keep The Goals Coming, Rondon
This observation is quite simple, but significant. Salomon Rondon perfectly scored a sliding shot after receiving a bouncing cross from Jacob Murphy on the wing in the 19th minute yesterday. This goal marked Rondon’s third goal in 10 league appearances and it marked his fourth goal for Newcastle in all competitions this season.
Rondon is now the club’s leading scorer, but the expectation is for him to continue scoring goals. With only 12 goals from 15 matches this season, Benitez and the Toon Army are hoping the Venezuelan frontman can break past 10 goals this season.
Yedlin and Atsu
Two players in particular deserve recognition for their efforts at Goodison Park and they are DeAndre Yedlin and Christian Atsu. Yedlin took on the daunting task of serving as a winger and defender against a quick Everton side. The American international did well in covering his tracks in defense by closing in on players down the flank, and he managed to break forward to get some decent crosses in the penalty area.
Atsu was a key player for Newcastle last night as he refused to take it easy during the entire match. The Ghanaian winger utilized his pace down the wings to lead multiple attacks for Newcastle, he always looked to feed Rondon with the ball and he did well to threaten Jordan Pickford on three occasions in the second half.