Snatching a late point at Newcastle will feel like a win for Everton and Sean Dyche, writes CRAIG HOPE, while Eddie Howe will need ear defenders if Alexander Isak continues his blistering form

They still haven’t won since before Christmas but snatching a draw from a game they should have lost – and a first goal since October for Dominic Calvert-Lewin – will feel like a victory on some level for Everton and Sean Dyche.

The Toffees boss was even smiling when Calvert-Lewin slipped and cleaned him out on the touchline moments after the substitute’s 88th-minute equaliser from the penalty spot. 

Dyche refrained from a playful slap on the head this time, for a pat on the back was what the striker deserved.

Dropped here after a run of 23 matches without a goal, Calvert-Lewin kept his nerve to smash through Martin Dubravka to end a three-game losing sequence that has Everton looking over their shoulder. 

It is only a point, but it felt like one was also made on a night when they were second best for the majority yet refused to cave in amid home pressure.

Training to Alexander Isak’s first-half strike and with just one shot on target, Dyche responded with a treble change on the hour and it turned the game. 

They still needed a helping hand – quite literally – from another substitute, Newcastle defender Paul Dummett. 

He wrestled with Ashley Young in attempting to stop his fellow veteran from getting on the end of a cross and, while it needed a VAR intervention, the right decision of penalty was eventually reached.

But until the arrival of Calvert-Lewin and Co it looked like Everton, up against a wounded and depleted opponent, would simply help nurse them back to health.

Newcastle could have named an absent XI stronger than the starters. The hour before kick-off brought news of three more injuries, with Tino Livramento and Miguel Almiron set to miss all of April and Kieran Trippier the bulk of it. They are down to the bare bones and clinging to the marrow.

But St James’ was still bouncing from the off. A continuation of the noise from Saturday’s come-from-behind win over West Ham? Or an atmosphere stoked by the incendiary presence of Jordan Pickford? It was more so the latter.

The former Sunderland goalkeeper had the first laugh – and eventually the last – when he made a brave and brilliant block from Harvey Barnes inside two minutes. But come the 15th the smile had been wiped from his face.

If Newcastle see Jarrad Branthwaite as a summer target, at least Isak shaved £5million off his asking price in scoring the opener. 

Freed by Harvey Barnes in the area and still with work to do, Isak sat down Branthwaite as if plonking a kid on the carpet for story time. 

And this was a schooling, feigning to shoot before stepping beyond his seated opponent and rolling into the bottom corner past Pickford. ‘Who put the ball in the Mackem’s net?’ chorused the Toon Army.

Howe said this week that the club will not listen to offers for the Sweden striker. They might need ear defenders if he continues in this form. This was his fifth goal on the spin at St James’ and, while Branthwaite’s value was perhaps trimmed, Isak’s worth was multiplied. He nearly had another in first-half stoppage-time when slamming narrowly over the bar after a jinking run.

There was a break in play in the 20th minute to allow Everton trio Amadou Onana, Abdoulaye Doucoure and Idrissa Gueye to break their fast for Ramadan. They might well have felt like praying at the same time, such was their team’s continued struggle for goals away from home.

It was three in eight games before this and, in Newcastle, they could not wish to meet a more welcoming defence. The Magpies have brought relief to many an opposition drought this season.

Come half-time, though, Everton had managed one shot on goal, and even that was nothing more than catching practice for Dubravka, a keeper low on confidence. So much for shooting on sight. 

By the hour, Dyche had seen enough and responded with that treble swap. One of those, James Garner, soon cracked the post with a measured curler when half of the away dugout had already emptied in celebration.

Newcastle’s lead, then, was precarious. 

Their best bet was another goal – as it has been all season – and they would have had it if not for Vitaliy Mykolenko clearing on the line from Isak’s close-range stab. Barnes slammed wide moments later and Pickford saved well from Bruno Guimaraes.

They were misses Newcastle would come to regret.