Everton boss David Moyes hailed Jordan Pickford’s “wonder save” after the England goalkeeper denied Sandro Tonali a stunning equaliser at Newcastle.
Pickford somehow turned the Italy international’s stoppage-time missile of a volley on to the crossbar to ensure the Toffees emerged as 3-2 Premier League winners, claiming their second successive three-point haul on Tyneside.
Moyes said: “The biggest credit I could give the save would be to say that Tonali’s volley was textbook. Probably if he got it, he couldn’t do any better if he tried again. It was so good, technique, on target…
“It took a wonder save to make it happen, so great credit to Jordan, and I’ve got to say it was a brilliant volley by Tonali as well.”
Pickford’s intervention came in the dying minutes of an eventful encounter at St James’ Park as the Magpies lost a third consecutive home league game for the first time under head coach Eddie Howe, a fate they last suffered in January-February 2021.
The Magpies recovered from Jarrad Branthwaite’s early header to level through Jacob Ramsey, but almost instantly handed the initiative back to the visitors when Nick Pope spilled Dwight McNeil’s shot and Beto pounced.
They levelled for a second time with eight minutes remaining when Jacob Murphy volleyed past Jordan Pickford, but succumbed once again within seconds when Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall was allowed to surge into the box and square for substitute Thierno Barry to bundle the ball across the line after Anthony Gordon has lost possession.
Howe’s men, who booked a last-16 Champions League clash with Barcelona in midweek, are struggling to secure European football of any kind for next season via the league after a run of just two wins in their last seven games.
A hugely frustrated Howe said: “Certainly in relation to the Premier League, our form for a while has not been strong enough, it’s not been good enough. We know that, we take responsibility for that.
“It’s been really frustrating for that, and that is the perils of Europe, I’m afraid. We’ve tried to be laser-focused on every game and give every attention to every game with the same importance.
“But with the deluge of games, your focus can be swayed and yes, our Premier League return in recent weeks has been nowhere near the level that it has been historically and our home form, which has been so reliable for us, has tailed off.
“We’ve got to try to grab that back as quickly as possible.”
Moyes headed back across the Pennines with his side sitting in eighth place on 40 points and within striking distance of the top six.
The Scot said: “For 25 minutes of the first half, we played really well and we were a bit unlucky. But the resilience away from home here…
“But nothing more than you would expect from Newcastle. They put us under a lot of pressure down the hill, which we knew was coming, but we stuck at it in the main.”
