\n
\nNEWCASTLE: Win ugly. The sign of a good team is getting the job done when performances elude you. And Newcastle United, game by game, are in danger of becoming a very good team.<\/p>\n
\nIn a contest that lacked any semblance of quality for the most part, one moment of \u201cMiggy magic\u201d was enough for the Magpies to claim all three points on Tyneside.<\/p>\n
\nA caressed Miguel Almiron finish, right out of the top drawer even by his standards, left England No. 1 Jordan Pickford flailing and helpless, and the packed-to-the-rafters, raucous home following in raptures. It was also enough to see Newcastle climb to 18 points \u2014 a tally they failed to achieve until February during the previous season.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cThe performance was very good, in a different way to how we have been at times this season. It wasn\u2019t free-flowing football, it was a very competitive game, a lot of fight in midfield, very physical. I am delighted with the character shown and how we defended as a team,\u201d said Howe.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cFor the whole team that (fifth clean sheet of the season) should give them enormous pleasure because that was a real team performance today. We defended our goal and goalkeeper very well. Everton are a strong team. They put a lot of balls into our box, a lot of direct play, and we had to deal with that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nWhy change a winning(ish) team? Howe is a man of habit this season, and rarely does he shuffle his pack when the points are flowing.<\/p>\n
\nThe draw at Manchester United was not without fault, but Howe stuck with the group who ground out that result \u2014 and again they produced the goods for him.<\/p>\n
\nIt was a bright opening for the Magpies, with Jacob Murphy showing he can get the better of Seamus Coleman down the United left and while he beat the Irishman at will, his final delivery and finishing escaped him.<\/p>\n
\nAt the other end, Sven Botman was beaten to the ball by the head of returned Dominic Calvert-Lewin but his effort rocketed over Nick Pope\u2019s bar.<\/p>\n
\nColeman denied what looked like a certain goal when he prevented a Callum Wilson cross finding the free Murphy, but literally no one could do anything about free-scoring Almiron\u2019s opener moments later.<\/p>\n
\nA slick move that swept from right to left and back again, started with skipper Kieran Trippier\u2019s pitching wedge-like delivery out to Murphy, who headed into Wilson, then on to Joelinton, then fellow Brazilian Bruno Guimaraes, before Almiron took it up around 16 meters from goal and quite beautifully stroked up and over Pickford, with perfect weight and speed.<\/p>\n
\nIt was a quite magical finish from a player whose confidence \u2014 and end product \u2014 had skyrocketed under the guidance of Howe.<\/p>\n
\nBruno, having one of his more quiet games, worked an angle and curled a left-footed effort just wide as United looked to add a second, but despite having the Toffees on the rack, Newcastle could not kill the encounter with a second.<\/p>\n
\nInevitably, as is the case in every premier league game, the opposition hit back after the break.<\/p>\n
\nAnthony Gordon\u2019s theatrics in the area earned him a booking, when the wide man looked to dive under minimal pressure from Dan Burn, few bar the Everton bench thought anything of it \u2014 importantly, the officials agreed with the masses.<\/p>\n
\nEverton dominated Newcastle in the middle in the second 45, with Idrissa Gueye a real athletic force in the midfield engine room.<\/p>\n
\nHowever, despite seeing lots of the ball and working it out into good areas, they could not unlock the door and as the game went into its final stanza, it was the fresher, more energetic Magpies who seemed to catch a second wind.<\/p>\n
\nWilson went close with an acrobatic effort, Almiron curled over from the edge of the penalty box and Willock twice went close with flicked headers on goal.<\/p>\n
\nThat often important second did not come, but it did not matter either as the top flight\u2019s most miserly defense again kept things clean. Newcastle have conceded just nine goals in 11 games this campaign.<\/p>\n
\nSince the summer when England and Manchester City star \u2014 and I say that with tongue firmly in cheek \u2014 Jack Grealish joked about the quality of Almiron with teammate Riyad Mahrez, the Paraguayan has netted five goals compared to ex-Aston Villa forward Grealish\u2019s one.<\/p>\n
\nIs that something that has fueled the Miggy revival?<\/p>\n
\n\u201cMiggy is not driven by anything like that,\u201d said Howe.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cHe has scored some spectacular goals in my time here and today\u2019s was right up there. He is playing very well with and without the ball. He has always worked very hard for the team. It is good to see him get individual recognition for all that work.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nMeanwhile, Everton boss Frank Lampard thinks his side should have been awarded a penalty for the Gordon incident.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cMy fear is that everybody is looking at Anthony (Gordon) and rejecting any penalty straight away,\u201d said Lampard.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cIf it\u2019s a foul or a nudge in the back or a touch on the foot, for me that\u2019s a penalty. I think VAR\u2019s there to relook.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cClear and obvious. It\u2019s a grey area we don\u2019t need. It\u2019s a penalty or it\u2019s not and I felt it was a foul personally.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nOn his side\u2019s evening, which was their third loss on the bounce, the Chelsea legend remarked: \u201cPerformance was OK, a tightly contested game in open play. Were we as clinical as we should have been? No.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cDisappointed that we didn\u2019t have more impact in the box against a good team.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cNo shots on target is a red herring. We got the end bit wrong and that makes it hard to win football matches.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cI can\u2019t complain about big parts of our game, but the last bit is sometimes you get it wrong and we did.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nWhile the visitors are on a downward trajectory, Newcastle are heading in the opposite direction.<\/p>\n
\nFrom a side who could not buy a win, barely buy a point, when Howe arrived, to one that is now claiming them at will without even having to get out of second gear.<\/p>\n
\nWhat a difference a year makes. And it does allow the mind to wander to what United under Howe may present in 12 months more.<\/p>\n
\nThe future certainly looks bright under Howe and the Magpies\u2019 majority owners, the Public Investment Fund.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cMy expectation is that we continue to give our all in every game. The margins between success and failure are very small. If we keep giving what we are, I think we will have a successful season.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nEnough about the long-term, though, short-term challenges are hard enough for Howe and company in the ultra-competitive premier league. And the next job on the list for the head coach is to somehow find a way of turning what was a particular low point of his tenure \u2014 the 5-1 loss at Spurs last season \u2014 into another positive.<\/p>\n
\nCan Newcastle do that this weekend? Well, in this kind of form and with this kind of momentum, you would not bet against them.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n
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