Everton cruise to victory, Newcastle win
LONDON: Wayne Rooney’s penalty miss mattered little as Everton continued their fine home form as they earned a 2-0 victory over Brighton and Hove Albion in the Premier League yesterday. The hosts dominated in the first half but couldn’t find a way past a Brighton side who travelled to Goodison Park on the back of three wins in their last four games in all competitions.
However, two goals in the second half saw the hosts home. Gaetan Bong put through his own net on the hour mark, before January signing Cenk Tosun smashed into the net in the 76th minute and Rooney could even afford to miss his penalty.
Brighton, who had Anthony Knockaert sent off for a dangerous tackle, dropped to 11th after a first defeat in eight in all competitions, now below Everton, whose ninth Premier League home win of the season lifted them to ninth. Earlier, Newcastle United moved clear of the Premier League’s relegation zone after on-loan Brazilian winger Kenedy scored twice and Matt Ritchie added another in a 3-0 home win over struggling Southampton yesterday.
Kenedy, who was loaned to Newcastle by champions Chelsea in January, opened the scoring in the second minute and made it 2-0 in the 29th after a superb breakaway move involving Ayoze Perez and striker Dwight Gayle.
Ritchie scored the third shortly before the hour with a crisp low show from 20 metres as Newcastle celebrated their first win in eight Premier League games against the Saints, who have won only one of their last 17 top-flight matches. Having scored his first goals for the Magpies, Kenedy also became the first Newcastle player to bag a brace at St James’ Park this season, with the home side missing several chances to win by an even bigger margin.