Second Best – Newcastle United v Everton match report.
March 5th, 2011 | 27 Comments |
After Newcastle kicked off though, the game proceeded in a fairly scrappy fashion mostly for the first fifteen minutes or so. Tiote seemed no time in getting stuck in (as usual) bringing down Everton’s Phil Neville (seemingly playing in midfield today) with a very firm challenge in virtually no time.
There was a bit of cut and thrust both ways, but with no moves going very far on either side really. It wasn’t until almost a quarter hour into the game when Everton goalkeeper, Tim Howard, gets his hands on the ball for the first time. It was also Everton who had the first real chance of the game after seventeen minutes. Starting with Kevin Nolan lashing the the ball across the Toffees goal with no one to connect, Ex Magpie, Sylvain Distin (or “Sacha Distel” as Bobby Robson used to call him) scrambles the ball away, launching an very good Everton counterattack. With another ex Magpie, Louis Saha eventually finding Mikel Arteta in space on the right flank. Arteta, a candidate for man of the match by the time the game was done, cuts the ball towards goal, forcing an excellent save from Steve Harper. The resulting corner sees Everton’s Leon Osman having another crack, but that effort was also unsuccessful, going just wide of the Newcastle goal. (more…)