Newcastle 1-0 Everton (Almiron 31′)
ST JAMES’ PARK — So are you watching, Jack Grealish? Back in May, lips loosened by the nectar of winning the Premier League, Manchester City’s enfant terrible mocked Riyad Mahrez for “playing like Miguel Almiron” in their title decider. It was not intended as a compliment.
If the charge was that Mahrez was summoning the spirit of the Newcastle winger by charging around the Etihad pitch to little effect, there was perhaps a kernel of truth to a crude critique which irked Almiron’s teammates. No one has ever doubted the winger’s endeavour, but end product has undoubtedly been a problem at times.
Not any more. Almiron doesn’t exactly do outspoken – the Paraguayan has a habit of smiling benevolently while ignoring mixed zone interview requests – but his riposte to the incorrigible Brummie this season could hardly have been more emphatic.
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WHAT A FINISH
Miguel Almiron puts Newcastle in front with a gorgeous curling shot#PLonPrime #NEWEVE pic.twitter.com/KneRZjghbO
An elegant first half finish to settle this scrappy St James’ Park contest in Newcastle’s favour was his fifth goal of the season while Grealish, an occasional starter for the champions, remains stuck on one. Not bad for a player most assumed would not survive contact with the second phase of Newcastle’s Saudi-funded revolution.
Much has been made of Newcastle’s capacity to spend big and Dan Ashworth’s assessment that there no longer exists a “ceiling” for ambition at Newcastle. But the improvement of the likes of Almiron – a high energy but low impact performer in the pre-takeover era – strikes right at the heart of why Newcastle sit comfortably in the Premier League’s top six and have a real chance of qualifying for Europe this season.
No doubt the £200m recruitment drive has transformed Newcastle, with Bruno Guimaraes adding an extra dimension in the engine room and Sven Botman an imperious presence in a back four that is the best in the Premier League. They have spent well.
But Eddie Howe has extricated so much more from a crop of players underperforming when he was installed just over a year ago. For all Botman looks like a real find, Fabian Schar’s performances alongside him are a big reason why Newcastle have conceded just nine goals this term.
And in Almiron, they now have a forward capable of finding composure in clutch moments. The over eager snatching at shots when he first arrived in England is gone, replaced by the presence of mind that lay behind his 31st minute winner here. When Guimaraes stabbed a short pass in his direction he was able to guide the ball from close range over a despairing Jordan Pickford.
It was a moment of class that rose above this war of attrition. Newcastle have mastered different ways to win this season, from the free-wheeling defeat of Brentford a fortnight ago to this patient unpicking of an obdurate Everton.
No team in the Premier League will fancy meeting them at the moment, and Newcastle will travel to Tottenham this weekend with no fear whatsoever. The sunlit uplands of the Europa League are a very realistic destination for a team on the up.
For the visitors there is more to worry about. No one would argue with the assertion that Everton are a tougher proposition this season, but scratch beneath the surface and what remains?
This was their third defeat in a row and there was plenty of signs of what’s currently wrong with Frank Lampard’s work-in-progress. In the first half they looked too one dimensional, a gameplan of disrupting Newcastle effective only as long as their opponents toiled.
When Newcastle conjured their opener, a response was required but Everton don’t yet have the players to summon that spark. Improved in the second half, they were still far too often guilty of misplaced passes and a lack of composure.
They have gained plaudits on Merseyside for their ability to stand up and fight but most of the bristling here was saved for Anthony Gordon when he went down too easily under a Dan Burn challenge. Gordon is stalling over a new contract which would make him one of Everton’s top earners but his performances of late don’t tally with that status.
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