Everton 1 Newcastle 4
Newcastle United strengthened their grip on a UEFA Champions League place with a 4-1 thrashing of Everton at Goodison Park, extending their unbeaten run to 16 Premier League games against teams in the bottom half of the table.
This match pitted the league's worst attack (Everton - now 25 goals scored) against the best defence (Newcastle - now 26 goals conceded), with survival and a place in the UCL at stake for these two northern powerhouses of English football.
Buoyed by a raucous crowd inside Goodison Park, the Toffees hustled and harried Eddie Howe’s side in the opening exchanges, but created nothing in the way of clear-cut chances.
That lack of quality upfront proved costly, as Newcastle took the lead against the run of play. Joelinton weaved his way in off the left-hand side and Jordan Pickford parried his subsequent shot into the path of Callum Wilson, who slotted home the rebound.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin thought he had netted an equaliser with seconds before the break with a lovely, deft finish over Nick Pope from Dwight McNeil’s pass, but VAR confirmed the assistant referee’s original decision to rule the goal out for offside.
The Toffees had only won once this season after recovering from a goal down, and that deficit would have been doubled had James Tarkowski not made a timely intervention to block Joe Willock's close-range effort.
But Howe’s men did score a second through Joelinton with a fine header from Willock’s excellent cross from the byline.
It was a cruel blow for Sean Dyche’s side, who were left with that familiar sinking feeling once again.
It was game over when Wilson scored his second and Newcastle’s third with a fantastic strike from distance, as he netted an eighth goal in his previous six appearances against Everton.
McNeil added some respectability to the scoreline by scoring straight from a corner, but conceded again seconds later to re-establish their three-goal lead through Jacob Murphy.
Alexander Isak showed sublime control to bamboozle the Toffees defenders and tee-up Newcastle’s number 23 for a simple tap-in at the far post.
Fabian Schar thought he had added a stunning fifth with a long-range strike, but an offside in the build-up denied the perplexed Switzerland international a goal.
Dyche’s men remain 19th and two points adrift of safety, while Newcastle stay third, eight points clear of Aston Villa outside of the Champions League places.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Joe Willock (Newcastle United)
Check out all the match stats with Flashscore.
Southampton 0 Bournemouth 1
Gary O'Neil’s Bournemouth side took a gigantic step towards securing Premier League survival, as the Cherries made it four wins from six outings with a 1-0 triumph away to fellow strugglers and basement club Southampton.
In what was being dubbed as Saints’ ‘last chance’ to resurrect their survival bid, the home side were fortunate not to have fallen behind at the break, when Matias Vina found the net midway through the first half.
Finishing first time off a rebound inside the penalty area, the Bournemouth man would have his celebrations cut short when the assistant referee raised their flag indicating an offside.
A sharpish VAR check confirmed such suspicions, keeping the two sides level at the interval.
Having enjoyed a reprieve in the first half, Southampton’s luck would eventually run out early in the second half, with Marcus Tavernier nestling a drilled effort from the right-hand side of the penalty area beyond Alex McCarthy in the hosts’ goal.
While it may have taken a deflection on the way through, this time the 24-year-old’s strike would stand, much to the delight of Gary O'Neil in the Bournemouth dugout.
The visitors thought they would get the chance to double their lead five minutes later after Jan Bednarek handled in the box but despite their appeals, no penalty was given.
What was already a bad night for Southampton got even worse in the final minute of the match, when Che Adams looked to have snatched a last-gasp equaliser with a stylish finish into the roof of the net.
While the striker believed he had salvaged a point for the bottom-placed club, a VAR check would conclude Adams had wandered offside in the build-up to the goal, ensuring Bournemouth wouldn’t be denied a much-needed three points.
The win is likely to be enough for the Cherries, whose gap between themselves and the bottom three extends to a healthy seven points.
The same cannot be said about Southampton, who are beginning to look as if they could be the first side cut adrift from the rest in what is turning out to be a cut-throat relegation battle.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Marcus Tavernier (Bournemouth)
