4 positives, 4 negatives from Newcastle 1-1 Everton – Observations from my seat at SJP

After controlling most of the game and missing some big chances to make it 2-0, last night’s 1-1 draw with Everton felt so avoidable.

In this piece, I’ve picked out some of the positives and negatives I took away from the game at St James’ Park after watching on from the Gallowgate.

Positives 

Elliot Anderson – His first start in six months and I thought he gave us something different. Set the tone from the off, constantly finding space, drove us forward and offered that disruptive presence that the Everton midfield struggled to cope with. His energy, ingenuity and aggression was great to see. It felt like we were harder to play against a far less of a soft touch with him in the side.

Better defensively – Dan Burn was rock solid at centre-back and looks far more comfortable in the middle after several shaky displays at left-back. We limited Everton to very few efforts on goal and both centre-backs did very little wrong. I thought Lewis Hall also showed another side to his game in this one, winning his fair share in the air and adding some balance to our back four before ‘fatigue’ forced him off.

First half control – Too many of our games at St James’ Park have been end to end, chaotic and energy-sapping, but I thought we controlled the game so well in the first half in particular. We looked much more measured, kept the ball well and were no longer gifting the opposition chances to break on the counter. It’s bittersweet to say this when we threw it away in the second, but the approach was encouraging and on another day we’d have taken those chances before handing Everton that chance to equalise.

Alexander Isak – He’s top class. We threw away two points at the death, but he’ll win us games in the final eight matches of the season on current form. Up to 15 for the season – 19 in all comps – has scored in each of his last five home games and is answering questions over his fitness after coming through another 90 minutes…


Source link : https://www.nufcblog.co.uk/2024/04/03/4-positives-4-negatives-from-newcastle-1-1-everton-observations-from-my-seat-at-sjp/

Author : Olly Hawkins

Publish date : 2024-04-03 06:07:18

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