Everton against Newcastle United has become the classic tale of the bogey team, the latest entry a loud 2-0 win for the 16th-place Magpies against their top four chasing hosts.’
That leaves the Toffees with a 1W-2D-3L record versus Newcastle since the start of 2018-19 Premier League season.’
A Callum Wilson brace helped Steve Bruce end a career-long winless skid as Newcastle United continued its surprising run of success versus Everton with a 2-0 win at Goodison Park on Saturday.
“There’s no disputing that it’s been very ,very difficult,” Bruce said of an 11-match winless streak. “I know how difficult it is, I knew it when I took the job, when you’re on a bad run in the Premier League, whether you’re me-self or Arteta or Frank Lampard.
“That’s the longest stretch I’ve been without a win. It’s good to get the victory and playing well is the important part. Hopefully it breeds a bit of confidence cause when we’re all right and we’ve got all the big players on the pitch, we know we’re okay.”
[ MORE: Three things learned from Everton - Newcastle ]
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Newcastle will finish the weekend no fewer than six points clear of the bottom three, with Crystal Palace next on the agenda.
But it’s Everton who should be more shocked after a poor performance forced Newcastle keeper Karl Darlow into just three saves and two punches, only one coming in the second half.
Only four times this season has Newcastle produced more than 1.44 expected goals. Only two have come after Oct. 3 and both were against Everton.
“We were lazy, we were slow and we were not focused,” Ancelotti said. “We gave away 12 corners to them, a lot of throw-ins. We didn’t win duels, second balls...this is the game. You can only show quality if you are there in this game because the game is about winning duels, second balls, avoiding corners, avoiding throw-ins. We were not on the pitch today.”
Everton would’ve been a point off fourth-place Liverpool with a match-in-hand if it beat Newcastle, who Pointsbet gave +320 odds for a draw and +575 for a win at Goodison.
But that’s pretty much how these games have gone.
Bruce also has a 3W-1D-4L record versus Ancelotti. That’s extra wild considering Ancelotti was leading Chelsea and Everton while Bruce watched over Sunderland and Newcastle.
That’s 1.63 points-per-game over eight matches for Ancelotti when matching wits with Bruce. Of managers he’s faced that many times or more, Ancelotti has taken less points-per-game off Bruce than he has against Fabio Capello, Cesare Prandelli, and Arsene Wenger.
Newcastle v Everton since 2018-19
Saturday -- Everton 0-2 Newcastle
Table position after game: 7th v 16th
Shots: NUFC, 13-11
Possession: EFC, 61-39
xG: NUFC, 2.09-0.97
?!? note: Newcastle entered game on 11-match winless run.
Nov. 1 -- Newcastle 2-1 Everton
Table position after game: 11th v 5th
Shots: EFC, 16-11
Possession: EFC, 63-37
xG: NUFC, 2.63-1.22
?!? note: Newcastle scores via penalty and off a goofy deflection.
Jan. 21, 2020 -- Everton 2-2 Newcastle
Table position after game: 14th v 12th
Shots: EFC, 17-9
Possession: EFC, 54-46
xG: EFC, 2.05-0.57
?!? note: Florian Lejeune scores two stoppage-time goals, one a bicycle kick. The goals were the defender’s only goals in 46 appearances for Newcastle.
Dec. 28, 2019 -- Newcastle 1-2 Everton
Table position after game: 11th v 10th
Shots: EFC, 22-20
Possession: EFC, 58-42
xG: EFC, 2.83-1.63
?!? note: None to be found here. Score line tells a fair tale.
March 9, 2019 -- Newcastle 3-2 Everton
Table position after game 13th v 11th
Shots: NUFC, 19-7
Possession: EFC, 55-45
xG: NUFC, 2.38-1.15
?!? note: Newcastle trailed 2-0 in the 65th minute.
Dec. 5, 2018 -- Everton 1-1 Newcastle
Table position after game: 6th v 14th
Shots: EFC, 19-8
Possession: EFC, 76-24
xG: EFC, 2.11-1.52
?!? note: Look at those possession and shot numbers.
