Newcastle United had taken 28 shots against Everton and still lost. Four days later, they faced the same opponents again, this time at St James’ Park, and could barely trouble the goalkeeper.
Their first shot on target did not arrive until the 85th minute.
By then, Newcastle were already 1–0 down. Tyrique George had tested Lukáš Horníček early in the second half, the goalkeeper had failed to hold the ball, and Thierno Barry had been there to finish the rebound.
That goal decided the Premier League meeting on 2 November. It also gave Matthias Jaissle another problem to solve.
On 29 October, Newcastle had lost 3–1 at Everton in the Carabao Cup despite producing 28 shots, nine of them on target. They had created chances, but defensive mistakes and Everton’s effectiveness had made those efforts count for little.
In the rematch, Newcastle managed 17 shots and only two on target. They were no longer simply failing to turn pressure into goals. Much of the pressure itself had disappeared.
The two defeats looked similar on the results page. They told rather different stories about what Newcastle needed to fix.
Newcastle had found ways to attack
The frustration was greater because Jaissle had recently seen signs of progress.
Against Crystal Palace on 25 October, Newcastle scored twice from the right in an eleven-minute spell. Jacob Murphy supplied a curling cross for William Osula to finish at the near post. Later, Amar Dedić advanced along the same flank and cut the ball back for Harvey Barnes.
Those were two different deliveries, each matched by a teammate’s movement.
For a side that had previously struggled to turn attacking possession into good opportunities, the combinations mattered. Newcastle were finding players in useful positions rather than simply sending another ball into a crowded penalty area.
The next test was Everton.
In the cup tie on 29 October, Newcastle continued to get forward. They finished with 28 attempts, nine on target and 38 touches inside Everton’s box. Sky Sports recorded 20 chances created.
Jordan Pickford had work to do. Everton’s defenders also had to make important interventions.
But in the 34th minute, Newcastle handed the home side an opening at the other end.
Tyrique George pressed Dedić near Newcastle’s defensive right corner. The full-back could not clear the ball successfully, and Everton worked the loose possession to James Garner, who scored.
The next goal came from a very different situation.
Just before half-time, Pickford gathered Harvey Barnes’ effort and quickly released the ball. Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall carried Everton forward, and Barry eventually crossed for Hayden Hackney to finish.
Newcastle had been attacking. Seconds later, they were 2–0 down.
Barry added Everton’s third in the second half, before Dan Burn headed a late consolation.
Jaissle could point to the chances his players had created, but the defeat had exposed what happened around those attacks. Newcastle were vulnerable when handling pressure close to their own goal, and they had not always been prepared for Everton to break forward as soon as possession changed.
The attacking progress against Palace was still real. It simply wasn’t enough to protect them from the damage being done elsewhere.
The rematch exposed something new
Four days later, Jaissle did not tear up his team.
For the league meeting at St James’ Park, he changed just two starters. Joelinton replaced Jacob Ramsey in midfield, while Anthony Elanga came in for Murphy on the right.
Barnes, Osula, Joe Willock, Nico González and Dedić were among those who started both matches.
That continuity makes the difference in Newcastle’s attacking output worth examining, although it does not automatically explain it.
The opening half was relatively even on the scoreboard. Barnes delivered dangerous balls from the left, Osula forced Pickford to react to a deflected cross, and Joelinton had an attempt blocked. Everton also missed opportunities through Barry and Harrison Armstrong.
At half-time, it was still 0–0.
Then, in the 49th minute, George struck a low shot towards Newcastle’s goal. Horníček got to it but could not hold it. Barry reacted first and turned the rebound into an Everton lead.
The immediate sequence was clear. There was less agreement over how Everton had started the move: Sky Sports described a quickly taken free-kick involving Dewsbury-Hall, while Everton’s official account identified Garner as the player who supplied George.
The available reports therefore establish the shot, handling error and rebound finish without settling every detail of the preceding passage.
Newcastle had more than 40 minutes to respond, but their attack struggled to build momentum.
Elanga struck the post in the 66th minute. Jaissle introduced Yoane Wissa and Sean Steur, then later brought on Ramsey and Murphy.
Still, Pickford did not have to make his first save from a shot on target until the 85th minute. Wissa forced another save near the end, but Newcastle never found an equaliser.
Ramsey’s stoppage-time dismissal came too late to explain the difficulties that had already shaped their afternoon.
The statistical contrast was significant. Newcastle’s shots had fallen from 28 to 17, their efforts on target from nine to two, their touches in Everton’s box from 38 to 28, and their chances created from 20 to 13.
Those numbers describe the change. Jaissle’s comments after the match offered a more useful clue about why it had happened.
The attack Jaissle planned was not the one Newcastle played
Jaissle wanted Newcastle to press high, combine through passing and create two-against-one situations. According to his post-match assessment, the players had worked on those patterns in training.
Against Everton, he felt they lacked conviction in possession and played too many long balls instead.
That distinction matters.
There is nothing inherently wrong with a direct pass towards Osula. If he can challenge for the ball and a teammate is close enough to collect the second ball, Newcastle can turn that delivery into an attack.
But a long ball becomes a poor substitute for build-up when it leaves the forward isolated. Even if he wins the first challenge, possession can disappear again before another Newcastle player becomes involved.
The issue, then, is not simply how far the ball travels. It is whether Newcastle have the movement and support to make the next action possible.
The right side offers Jaissle one practical area to investigate.
Against Palace, Murphy and Dedić had helped produce two effective attacking combinations. Elanga’s introduction against Everton changed the personnel involved in that relationship.
Could Dedić and Elanga create the same reliable passing options? Was Willock close enough to offer an inside route? Could González provide support behind the move without leaving Newcastle exposed when the ball was lost?
These are questions for the coaching staff to test through the match footage, not conclusions that can be established from the scoreline.
One possible adjustment would be to give Dedić a clearer inside passing option before asking him to find Osula further forward. That could help Newcastle progress through pressure rather than bypassing teammates with an early long ball.
It comes with a trade-off. Sending more players towards the attacking move can leave fewer behind to stop an Everton counterattack. Keeping González deeper would provide some protection, but might reduce Newcastle’s numbers in the final third.
Jaissle needs both parts of the problem in view. Creating another passing route is useful only if the team remains prepared for the moment that route fails.
The defensive mistakes should not be treated as identical
There is another reason to resist drawing one sweeping conclusion from the two defeats.
On 29 October, Dedić’s pressured clearance contributed to Garner’s opener. Everton’s second came after Newcastle’s own attack ended and Pickford quickly launched a counterattack.
On 2 November, Horníček’s failure to secure George’s shot was the decisive error.
All three incidents hurt Newcastle, but they involved different actions and responsibilities.
The goalkeeper deserves scrutiny for the rebound. That does not establish that the earlier problems involving Dedić or Newcastle’s transition protection had occurred again in precisely the same way.
Jaissle also believed Barry had fouled Fabian Schär during the build-up to the league goal. The referee allowed the goal, and the available reports do not provide a complete independent review of that dispute.
Everton’s contribution cannot be overlooked, either. David Moyes’ players took advantage of the chances Newcastle gave them, but they also created opportunities of their own and defended the league lead effectively.
Nor should the reduced shot count alone be treated as proof of tactical decline.
The cup match had Newcastle chasing a two-goal half-time deficit. The league match was goalless at the interval. Different match states affect how aggressively teams attack and how much space opponents leave behind.
The strongest evidence is therefore the combination of Newcastle’s reduced output and their manager’s assessment that the planned combinations had not appeared.
Newcastle now have two problems to solve
After the cup defeat, Jaissle had reason to keep faith with Newcastle’s attacking progress. His players had created enough opportunities to make Everton work hard, but they needed better decisions around their own penalty area and stronger protection when attacks broke down.
The second defeat added a concern.
Newcastle could no longer rely on producing the same volume of chances. The players who had recently found useful attacking connections struggled to reproduce them, and Jaissle saw a team drifting away from its prepared approach.
Better goalkeeping might have kept the league match level. It would not explain why Newcastle waited until the 85th minute to register a shot on target.
Better finishing might have changed the cup tie. It would not, by itself, restore the passing support and movement missing from the rematch.
To judge whether the problem lasts, Newcastle’s next comparable matches need to show what happens while the score is level. Can they work the ball into useful positions? Do the forwards receive support when the team goes direct? Are the players behind the attack ready when possession turns over?
Four days earlier, Newcastle had shown they could create plenty and still lose.
Against Everton the second time, they showed something more troubling: they could struggle to create enough in the first place, while one mistake behind the ball remained enough to beat them.
Sources and previous MATCHIQ research
- Newcastle United — Carabao Cup match report, 29 October
- Newcastle United — Premier League match report, 2 November
- Newcastle United — Confirmed team, 2 November
- Everton FC — Cup match report
- Everton FC — League match report
- Sky Sports — Cup statistics
- Sky Sports — League report and statistics
- Reuters via The Star — Jaissle’s assessment
- MATCHIQ — Newcastle’s 28 Shots
- MATCHIQ — Newcastle Found Two Ways Through Palace