But it really was one of those games where neither team had much shape
and gave away the ball so much that is was end to end stuff.
Which is great if you're a ‘neutral' - is there any such thing? I always
hate one team more than the other - but when your side has got points
resting on the outcome it's just frustrating.
We went up there full of confidence but it was Newcastle that started
the brighter of the two teams as they all too often found ways to
penetrate our strangly shaky looking defence.
Charles N'Zogbia hit over from an Emre corner and then James Milner
flashed a shot wide of Tim Howard's upright after latching on to a weak
clearance from Lee Carsley.
Shola Ameobi then had his first chance of the game but his header was
comfortably collected by Tim Howard.
A few minutes later he, controversially…no, just plain wrongly…got his
second chance of the game which he tucked away to give Newcastle the
lead.
Joseph Yobo gave a free kick away wide on the Everton right and as Emre
swung the ball into the box the Everton defence pushed out to leave
Ameobi at least a yard offside.
But, as the ball inevitably fell to his unmarked feet, he had time to
trap it and take a look over at the linesman, whose flag stayed by his
side, before shooting past Howard from eight yards out.
The Everton ‘keeper almost made a stunning save but there was just too
much power on the shot and Newcastle were 1-0 up.
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Everton then began to get more of a hold on the game as Tim Cahill hit a
shot high and wide after some good work to get into the box and Lescott
missed a sitter as he headed a Mikel Arteta free kick wide from five
yards out.
Newcastle then struck back as a great touch from Scott Parker saw him
power into the area before attempting to lob Tim Howard who pushed the
ball wide at full stretch.
Lee Carsley then missed a good chance at the other end as he flashed a
diving header wide under pressure from the hapless Titus Bramble.
But Everton finally struck level through a Tim Cahill header after 41
minutes.
A poor corner from Arteta was cleared only as far as Phil Neville who
played a superb first time ball back out wide to Arteta.
The Spaniard then clipped a perfect cross to the back post that Tim
Cahill headed past Harper to level the scores.
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Two minutes after the re-start and Newcastle had a claim for a penalty
turned down after Parker had his shirt pulled by Carsley after he'd made
a complete plum of him by nutmegging him on the edge of the area.
Everton then had their own penalty claims turned down ten minutes later
after Titus Bramble bundled Andy Johnson as he ran past him in the area.
And the game continued to swing to and fro in this manner as neither
team could really keep hold of the ball to really mount any consistent
pressure on the opposition's goal.
The Blues had a couple of chances to set Johnson clear but, all too
often, the final ball to him was poor and he couldn't really get into
the game at all.
But the referee made sure that he made his mark on the game after 75
minutes when he issued the first of two red cards.
After being booked for a clumsy lunge on Johnson in the first half,
Bramble inexplicably went through the back of Leon Osman on the edge of
the area and was sent off by Steve Bennett.
Then, before Everton could make any use of their numerical advantage,
Steve Bennett showed Tony Hibbert his second yellow of the game for a
lunge at Antoine Sibierski.
The Everton full back had been booked 10 minutes earlier for a
marginally mis-timed tackle on Scott Parker that looked a lot worse than
it actually was.
But the writing was on the wall for Hibbert even before Sibierksi had a
chance to do his first twist in mid-air as he was sent off in a move
that smacked of the referee ‘evening things up'.
In truth, the referee didn't need to send off either player as the
tackles were more ill-judged than ill-willed, but the fact that Mr
Bennett had already issued six yellow cards in a match played in a
decent spirit says it all about his over-zealous refereeing style
really.
Everton had chances to win the game but Osman could not convert either
of his two chances in the area and Carsley missed another good
opportunity.
Overall, a draw was probably a fair result but both teams came out of
the match frustrated that they didn't win.
But, to end on a positive note, it's one point more than we normally get
up there, the Blues are still unbeaten and it's Man City at home on
Saturday!