Newcastle United fresh injury scare, Jordan Pickford’s moaning and Bruno Guimaraes’ cheer – moments missed

Jordan Pickford’s St James’s Park woes continue against Newcastle United

It’s always interesting when former Sunderland goalkeeper Jordan Pickford comes to town. The Everton man, as expected, was relentlessly booed and mocked by the home supporters throughout the match.

Miguel Almiron’s stunning 30th minute strike from the edge of the box sailed past Pickford and into the top left corner of the goal to give Newcastle the lead – prompting chants of ‘he’s only got little arms’ from the Toon Army.

And when Everton winger Anthony Gordon went down under a Dan Burn challenge inside the Newcastle penalty area, Pickford was quick to get involved and make his feelings clear.

With play stopped, players from both teams engaged in a scuffle which saw both Gordon and United defender Fabian Schar booked.

Meanwhile, Pickford ran over to the fourth official to protest the decision not to award his side a penalty. Once again, the England goalkeeper cut a frustrated figure at St James’s Park.

But the worst was still yet to come as the second half saw a fan in an inflatable t-rex suit run along the width of the Gallowgate Stand, behind Pickford’s goal, while waving a black and white chequered flag.

Geordie boys taking the p*** indeed.

Callum Wilson hits out at Jacob Murphy

It was another frustrating evening in front of goal for Callum Wilson as he had few opportunities to add to his three-goal tally for the season.

But in the 40th minute of the match, the striker felt he was in a great position to double Newcastle’s lead as Jacob Murphy was played in down the left by Almiron.

Wilson was shouting for the ball in space in the middle, but Murphy took a touch and his attempted ball was cut-out, much to the Newcastle No. 9’s frustration.

The striker punched the air, gesturing for Murphy to have put the ball in first time.

"There are balls going over my head when I’m going to the front, I’ll go to the back and the ball goes to the front so it’s just one of them that will fall, and when it does, [the goals] will start flying in,” Wilson said after the match. “But it's more about the performance.”

Newcastle United’s fresh injury concern

In the build-up to half-time, Newcastle midfielder Joelinton was on a booking and limping slightly after taking a knock.

The Brazilian had only recently recovered from a knee injury to start two matches in the space of three days.

And as Joelinton looked in some discomfort before the break, a concerned Newcastle assistant manager Jason Tindall turned to Eddie Howe. But the United head coach gestured to keep things calm as he waited until half-time before making a call.

Given the fiery contest between the two sides, Joelinton was in danger of being sent off had he remained on the pitch. There was also the added risk of further aggravating his knee issue.

For the second half, Howe made the sensible call to bring off Joelinton in place for Joe Willock.

Following the match, the Newcastle head coach admitted it was ‘too early’ to say whether the 26-year-old would miss Sunday’s trip to Tottenham Hotspur (4:30pm kick-off).

“He took a knock to his knee in a tackle,” Howe said. “I think it’s just a knock at this stage, so no twist. I don’t think there’s any injury to the joint.

"He was in pain, he couldn’t continue. Fingers crossed he’ll be okay. Touch wood, he's okay, but it's an early stage for us to give that opinion.”

Rafa Benitez gets a mention

Former Everton and Newcastle manager Rafael Benitez is certainly one man who has a contrasting reputation among the two fan-bases.

The Spaniard is viewed favourably on Tyneside having led Newcastle to the Championship title in 2016-17 before securing a top half finish on the club’s return to the top flight. Benitez left Newcastle after three years in 2019 to manage in China before returning to the Premier League last season to become Everton manager.

Given Benitez’s connections to Everton’s city-rivals Liverpool, it wasn’t a popular appointment among Toffees supporters and one that seemed doomed from the start.

Despite a promising opening few matches, Benitez’s Everton side struggled during the first half of last season and he was sacked with the club in danger of dropping into a relegation battle.

As Wednesday night’s match started to peter out, a small section of Newcastle fans injected some more light-hearted banter to proceedings by singing Benitez’s name.

It’s fair to say his name won’t be chanted by Everton fans any time soon.

Bruno Guimaraes’ brief celebration

It’s no secret that Bruno Guimaraes has completely bought into the passion and atmosphere from Newcastle supporters at St James’s Park.

But there was a small moment in the closing stages of the game which saw the Brazilian celebrate almost as if he’d scored a goal.

As Everton threatened to break after clearing a Kieran Trippier free-kick, Guimaraes single-handedly stopped the counter attack by booting the ball high into the night’s sky before Neal Maupay could break away.

There was none of his typical Brazilian flair, there was something very uncharacteristic seeing the midfielder adopt such a no nonsense approach. But the crowd seemed to love it all the same as they cheered while Guimaraes pumped his arms out wide and let out a shout in celebration.

The 24-year-old knew how important stopping that attack in the closing stages was as Newcastle were able to keep another clean sheet and secure an important three points.

The win takes The Magpies’ points total to 18 after 11 matches, the same total they reached with a victory against Everton at home last season, 22 games in.