Everton secured a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Newcastle United at St James’ Park, with Thierno Barry scoring the decisive goal shortly after half-time.
Barry struck in the 49th minute to hand Everton all three points, repeating his heroics from the corresponding fixture last season, when his goal also secured victory for the Toffees. That result had been Everton’s most recent away win in the Premier League before this encounter.
The visitors delivered an impressive performance from the opening stages, creating several opportunities, while Newcastle struggled to find their rhythm. The hosts’ disappointing evening was compounded by Jacob Ramsey’s late dismissal.
Merlin Röhl fired over from a difficult angle before Everton came close to opening the scoring in the 23rd minute. Jarrad Branthwaite flicked on a set-piece, but Barry failed to make proper contact with his attempted finish.
Joelinton later sent a long-range effort wide, while Everton continued to dominate proceedings. Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall created two promising opportunities just before the interval.
His dangerous cross narrowly evaded Jake O’Brien before he set up Harrison Armstrong, whose effort from the centre of the penalty area went wide.
Everton eventually made their pressure count four minutes after the restart. Tyrique George broke down the left following a free-kick and fired towards goal, but goalkeeper Lukas Hornicek failed to hold the ball on the slippery surface, allowing Barry to tap into an unguarded net.
Hornicek subsequently produced several impressive saves to deny Branthwaite, Dewsbury-Hall and O’Brien.
Newcastle nearly punished Everton for their missed opportunities when Anthony Elanga connected with a deep cross, but Jordan Pickford and the post combined to prevent an equaliser.
Fabian Schär also escaped punishment after a desperate last-ditch challenge on Barry, while Newcastle came close again when Ramsey volleyed wide and Pickford saved Yoane Wissa’s effort.
However, Newcastle’s hopes of salvaging a result suffered another setback when Ramsey received two yellow cards within two minutes during second-half stoppage time, resulting in his dismissal.
Dewsbury-Hall Shines In Grealish’s Absence
Everton had defeated Newcastle 3-1 at Hill Dickinson Stadium in the EFL Cup the previous week, but their latest victory came through a more disciplined and closely contested performance.
Jack Grealish was once again missing from Everton’s squad after also missing the previous meeting with Newcastle following an unauthorised absence from training.
However, Dewsbury-Hall delivered an impressive performance in his absence, emerging as one of Everton’s standout players.
The midfielder led the match in chances created with three and touches with 75. He also recorded three shots, matching James Garner and Barry, while completing 41 of his 48 passes.
Defensively, Branthwaite made an impressive return after missing Everton’s previous two matches due to concussion.
The centre-back won 10 of his 12 aerial duels, matching the highest number recorded by any player in a Premier League match this season.
Barry also continued his impressive scoring form, with only Erling Haaland, who has 13 goals, scoring more than his eight goals among Premier League players across all competitions this season.
Since David Moyes returned to Everton in January 2025, only Arsenal, with 31 clean sheets, and Manchester City, with 28, have recorded more Premier League shutouts than the Toffees’ 20.
Everton will now turn their attention to Friday’s encounter against Coventry City.
Meanwhile, Newcastle’s home struggles continued, with no Premier League team losing more home matches than their seven defeats in 2026.
The Magpies have also lost 16 of their last 18 Premier League matches in which they conceded the opening goal, recording just one victory and one draw in that run.
The defeat leaves manager Matthias Jaissle facing growing pressure to address Newcastle’s inconsistent performances.